T T "^^ 

(^ J HE TEXTILE WORLD RECORD 



T3 



KINK BOOKS 



Hosiery and Knit Goods 

Bleaching, Dyeing 

Finishing 



LORD & NAGLE COMPAHY 

Publishers 
Boston, Mass., U. S. A, 




CIV cns'.y 



The Spreader, "sed in con 
junction with the Dryer, i=^ 
about one-half the weight of 
other makes. There is no solder 
applied to it anywhere. It is the 
most durable Spreader on the 
market. 

When in need of any machines 
write and give me an opportunity 
to tell you more about them. 



J. A. FIRSCHING 

80-82 Broad St. 
UTICA.,N.Y., U.S.A. 



stable 
Irying 

In con- 
,h the 
g base, 
by all 
e to be 
Tactical 
>ry ing 
he mar- 
use of 
bearing 
ator can 
jt out of 
en load- 
. When 
»th same 
;o a box, 
', should 
• to take 
»u know 
fom one 
f it from 
1 to pull 
let go it 
isidered 
,vith the 
hat it is 




DYEING 

Machinery for Knit Goods, 
Yarn and Raw Stock. 



Hydraulic and 
Power Screw 

P RESSE S 

FIRE-PROOF STEEL CONSTRUCTION 

DRYERS 

For all Textile Materials 




"Hurricane" Stocking Drver 



The Philadelphia Drying Machinery Co. 

6721GermantownAve.,PHILADELPHIA,PA. 



WHY? and WHERE? 

It is a benefit to every Textile manufacturer to 
know and use 

Wyandotte Concentrated Ash 

AND 

Wyandotte Textile Soda. 

Let it be known at the beginning of this talk that we 
are the original and sole manufacturers of both these 
materials. That we advise their use with the positive 
guarantee of satisfaction, and of their doint;- all we 
claim for them. And we believe you can easily dis- 
cover that our responsibility is such, that our guarantee 
is bona fide. 

Wyandotte Concentrated Ash 

when used for kier boiling underwear and hosiery 
shows many points of superiority over the use of soda 
ash and other alkalies. 

By using \V\andotte Concentrated Ashm place of 
other alkalies you obtain cleaner, softer and more lofty 
goods, and with positively no injurious results to the 
fiber. This same superiority of results is obtained 
when Wyandotte Concentrated Ash is used with 
sulphur and developed colors on hosiery. 

Wyandotte Concentrated Ash is free from iron and 
other impurities, it is a better deteigent, a Ireer rinser, 
and makes hard water soft, 

Wyandotte Textile Soda 

shows the same superior qualities when used for pre- 
paring the bleach liquor r.s Wyandotte Concentrated 
Ash does in kier boiling. 
Wyandotte Textile Soda when 
used in conjunction with chlor- 
ide of lime precipitates the lime 
and other insoluble particles 
leaving a soft, clear bleach. 
Wyandotte Textile Soda also 
stimilates the action of the 
bleach and makes available for 
bleaching purposes a greattr 
(luantity of 'bleach from the 



''Wpandom! 




, ClK 3. B. Ford Como?a]^ 

wcandsiu. nicb. U. I H 



me amount of chloride of lime. 

Are not these results of 
sufficient importance to deserve 
your consideration. Order from 
your supply house or write us 
for full di sections or other 
information. 

THE J. B. FORD CO., Sole Mfrs. 
Wyandotte, Mich. 



THE TEXTILE WORLD RECORD 
KINK BOOKS 



Hosiery and Knit Goods 

Dyeing, Bleacliing 

Finisliing 



Compiled from the 

Questions and answers department 

of the 

TEXTILE WORLD RECORD 

by 

CLARENCE HUTTON 



PRICE 75 CENTS 



LORD & NAGLE COMPANY 

Publishers 
Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 



^-r^^^ 

-T:^ 



Copyright, 1913 
LORD & NAGLE COMPANY 

Boston, Mass, 



©Cf,A3576S3 



PREPACK 



The success which attended the publication 
of Kinks for Knitters, Kinks for Knitters No. 
2, and Kinks on Cost Finding in Knitting 
Mills has led us to add this book on Hosiery 
and Knit Goods Bleaching, Dyeing and Finish- 
ing to the Textile Woeld Record Kink Book 
Series. It is composed of practical experi- 
ences in many mills. 

The editors of the Textile World Record 
are at all times face to face with the problem 
of securing practical information. For years 
its subscribers have been invited to make free 
use of its columns in asking questions relating 
to textile manufacturing, and it occurred to 
us that if some of the most important and 
most interesting of the practical questions that 
have been answered were gathered together in 
a handy form for quick reference it would 
meet a widespread want. 

This book contains information which has 
been supplied by manufacturers, superintend- 
ents and overseers from their private record 
books and their stores of knowledge gained 
by experience. Many questions are answered 
and much information given, but subscribers 
should remember that if there is any informa- 



5 PREFACE 

tioii they desire which is not given in this vol- 
ume, it is their privilege to aslc the Questions 
and Answers Department of the Textile 
World Record and every effort will be made 
to publish the information they want, pro- 
vided the question is one of general interest 
to the trade. 

No effort has been made to group the ques- 
tions and answers relating to similar opera- 
tions in any part of the book. The index has 
been carefully prepared, ho\\ever^ and its use 
should enable anyone to secure the informa- 
tion he seeks in the shortest possible time. 

Grateful acknowledgment is due to the men 
who have supplied the information, and if 
Kinks on Hosiery and Knit Goods Bleaching, 
Dyeing and Finishing should benefit any ol 
the large number of men for whom it is 
intended, both they and the publishers will 
feel that its mission has been accomplished. 
TEXTILE WORLD RECORD. 

Lord & Nagle Company, 

Publishers. 



HOSIERY AND KNIT GOODS 

DYEING, BLEACHING 

FINISHING. 



Removing Kier Stains 

I am enclosing a small piece of knit fabric 
that is soiled with kier stains. Can you give 
us any information regarding a good kier 
stain remover? We cannot use anything with 
silicate in it as we have already tried that and 
found it would not do. Dexter (2153). 

"Dexter" is having the same trouble that a 
lot of other bleachers are having. It is not 
serious, however, as the stains can be easily 
removed, as will be seen by the sample re- 
turned with the stain removed from it. I feel 
sure that if any stain remover, or other so- 
called composition is put in the kier, the 
trouble will be increased. The only way to 
remove the stains is to try and locate them in 
the wet state and have them washed out. If 
the material is cut up and stains appear, have 
them washed out just the same. 

The following solution is a good stain re- 
mover and will not affect the goods in any 
way. It will remove oil as well as kier stains. 



10 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

It can be made in larger quantities in the fol- 
lowing proportions: 

2 ozs. eastile soap. 
Mj oz. saltpeter. 

2 qts. soft water. 

4 ozs. aqua ammonia. 
Dissolve the soap and the saltpeter in the 
water and when thoroughly dissolved place in 
an airtight vessel or bottle and add the am- 
monia. Shake well and let stand for 12 hours, 
when it is ready for use. Keep the bottle 
tightly corked to keep in the ammonia. 
Wash the stain with this solution, rub the 
fabric slightly and the stains immediately 
disappear. 

The stain in the sample sent does not ap- 
pear to be a kier stain, as it can be washed 
out so easily, but appears to be more in the 
nature of a dirty water stain, which may have 
been caused when flushing the kier or in the 
cooling off process. This could be easily de- 
termined by a little watching. The fact that 
it is removed so easily bears out my conten- 
tion that it is caused by dirty water, for as a 
rule kier stains are very difficult to remove 
from a fabric of any kind. Alpha. 



Cross-Dyeing Plated Hosiery 

We are making plated hosiery, that is, 
worsted plated upon cotton. We color our 
cotton varn l^lack with sulphur black dye and 



liLEACHING AND FINISHING II 

dry it at a temperature of about 200°. This 
cotton yarn colored and dried as above we 
vse with worsted yarn, part of which is all 
worsted and part about 50 per cent, of cotton 
and 50 per cent, worsted, but how the cotton 
in this yarn is colored we do not know. We 
color these goods with an aniline dye, using 
formic acid. We dry these goods in a tem- 
perature of about 200°. We have been led to 
think that possibly in the coloring we might 
tender the yarn or goods and we wish to do 
something at once to have this remedied so 
that the yarn when colored will be just as 
strong, or nearly as strong as when in the 
white, and that our goods when colored and 
dried will be as strong as before coloring. 
We wish to ascertain if you know any- 
thing in regard to the workings of sulphur 
black, also the workings of aniline in connec- 
tion with formic acid, and if the temperature 
would have anything to do with developing 
the acid or oxydization which might weaken 
the yarn or goods. Adam (1916). 

From the above question it appears that 
this manufacturer uses two kinds of yarn in 
combination with the cotton yarn which he 
dyes in his own dye house with a sulphur 
black. One of these yarns is all worsted and 
the other is composed in part of cotton and 
in part of worsted, the cotton of this thread 
having been dyed by a process unknown to 
the correspondent. In cross-dyeing his ma- 
terial, he uses an "aniline dye" together with 
formic acid, and wishes to know what influ- 
ence formic acid has on the sulphur bleach 



12 KXIT GOODS DYEING 

and the aniline, and whether there is likely to 
be a tendering of the cotton. 

Formic acid has no destructive action upon 
wool or cotton in the dye bath, its action be- 
ing, in the case of ordinary acid colors, that 
of an assistant, causing a gradual taking up 
of the color by the wool from the dye bath. 
It is seldom used in cotton dyeing. Properly 
dyed sulphur blacks are not acted upon by 
any ordinary mineral or vegetable acids, so 
that no fear need be entertained as to tender- 
ing of the goods after dyeing if reasonable 
washing is given. As a precaution after dye- 
ing sulphur colors, a few ounces of sodium 
acetate for 100 gallons of final rinse water 
may be given. This will remove all tendency 
of the sulphur bleach dyed material to be- 
come tender. Beta Napthol. 



Soap for Knit Goods 

I am sending you two swatches of knit 
cloth. One is about 60 per cent, wool and 
woqI stock, the rest cotton, and the other is 
all cotton. I am using a soap made of 50 
pounds good palm oil soap, 75 pounds alkali, 
ISO gallons water, and am using 12 gallons to 
90 to 100 pounds of the goods. The goods are 
all right when they are first finished, l)ut after 
being boxed and lying four or six weeks they 
smell oily. Waveland (1908). 

The following is a good formula for making 
soap: Have two tanks, ojiie for palm oil soap 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING I3 

and one for olive oil soap or green soap. The 
tanks should hold about 90 gallons of water. 
Fill half full and add 60 pounds of palm oil 
soap to one tank, and in the other add 60 
pounds olive oil soap. Boil both solutions 
until they are well dissolved and then run up 
the tanks full of water, adding 30 pounds 
ammoniated potash, and boil for two hours, 
when the soap is ready to use. 

To treat 80 pounds of goods, first use 6 gal- 
lons of palm oil soap, or 2 pailfuls of olive oil 
soap. It will be easy to get at the cost. One 
hundred pounds of goods is too much for any 
lulling mill to attempt to full at one time. I 
have always had good results and there is no 
odor from the goods. Howard. 



duantity of Bleaching Powder Required 

In looking over a technical paper I find it 
stated that the amount of bleaching powder 
required for 1,000 pounds of knit goods is 50 
pounds. This is far below what we have been 
able to get a good bleach with, and I wish you 
would advise 'Us what amount of bleaching 
powder should be used for bleaching 1,000 
pounds of goods. We make up our bleaching 
powder with equal parts of soda ash and chlo- 
ride of lime and run the goods twice through 
the solution at 1 1/2", using sulphuric acid to 
sour with. Dexter (2024). 

Theoretically 50 pounds of bleaching powder 
might be sufficient to bleach 1,000 pounds of 



14 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

knit goods, but in practice more would be 
required. When scientists experiment to de- 
termine what would be required to produce a 
certain result, everything is brought down to 
a fine point, every grain of chlorine would be 
extracted from the bleaching powder, and the 
sediment would be washed and rewashed un- 
til every particle is extracted. On the other 
hand, the material used in the test would not 
contain any surplus water to neutralize off 
the action of the chlorine and reduce its 
bleaching power. 

There are a great many bleacheries han- 
dling knit goods, piece goods and raw stock, 
in which the chlorine is not thoroughly ex- 
tracted, because it is not allowed time to set- 
tle and be washed off thoroughly. In these 
bleacheries the water is not extracted thor- 
oughly, in many places the squeezing does not 
get them dry enough, thus reducing the 
strength of the chlorine. If under-boiled 
more chlorine is required to get a white, and 
It is only a poor white at that, It is a well 
known fact that oxycellulose will be produced 
in 4 1/2 to 5 hours with chlorine at 4° Tw. 
and left for this length of time. "Dexter" 
may not know that mixing the chemic powder 
with soda ash, thus producing the sodium 
hypochlorite, which is the bleaching agent 
then, will necessitate a longer time in the bath 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING I5 

to produce a good white with less risk of ten- 
dering the goods. 

If it were possible to get the goods right in 
the boil, all the dirty water washed out and 
the goods fairly dry without carrying any sur- 
plus water in the chlorine bath, then 50 
pounds of bleaching powder would be suffi- 
cient for 1,000 pounds of goods, providing, of 
course, care was used in mixing the bleaching 
powder and all the chlorine extracted. It 
takes too long to wash off the powder to the 
last pinch when it is a question of production. 
Time is too valuable to be washing a sediment 
to extract a few grains of chlorine. 

When a bleachery is being built it costs but 
little extra to duplicate or even triplicate a 
mixing tank with lower tanks for settling pur- 
poses. I have always claimed that it takes 
too much chlorine to bleach the cotton at the 
present time. Dulcimer. 



Dyeing Black on Cotton and Wool Knit 
Goods 

Kindly gi*\'e the methods followed in dyeing 
black on cotton knit goods and on cotton and 
wool mixed goods. What classes of dyestufCs 
are employed and which is the best. 

Groman (3363). 

The following article by J. M. Matthews, 
published in a recent issue of the Textile 
World Record, answers this question fully: 



l6 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

For the dyeing- of black on knit goods a 
number of different classes of dyestuffs may 
be employed, depending on the quality of the 
color desired, as well as its special properties 
of fastness, and the cost. The cheapest 
method of dyeing cotton knit goods is to em- 
ploy the substantive or direct cotton colors. 
A large number of these are marketed by dif- 
ferent manufacturers, and almost any desired 
tone of black may be obtained. The direct 
cotton colors are applied in ?. very simple 
manner, using a solution of the dyestuff in a 
bath containing a considerable amount of 
common salt or glauber's salt; very often a 
small quantity of soda ash is added for the 
purpose of better exhausting the color from 
the dye bath. 

The following method will yield a good 
black on cotton knit goods by the use of a 
direct cotton dyestuff: 

For 100 lbs. of goods: 

6 lbs. Patent Dianil Black F F cone. 
(Farbwerke). 
35 lbs. common salt. 
1 lb. soda ash. 

The cloth should first be well scoured by 
boiling in a bath containing 2 lbs. of soda ash 
and 1 lb. of Monopol oil. This will serve to 
wet the goods out so that the dyestuff may be 
readily and evenly taken from the dye bath. 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 1 7 

The use of the oil will also tend to preserve 
the softness of the fiber and prevent the cloth 
from acquiring a harsh feel. 

After scouring and squeezing to remove the 
excess of liquor, the goods are run into the 
dye bath, the temperature of which should 
be about 140° F. to start with. After running 
for about 15 minutes so that the material may 
become thoroughly saturated with the dye- 
liquor, the temperature is raised to the boil- 
ing point and the dyeing continued for about 
one hour. The goods are then rinsed off, 
hydro-extracted and dried. 

To obtain a finer tone to the color, this 
black after dyeing and rinsing may be topped 
off in a fresh bath containing: 

1% ozs. Methylene Blue B B cone. (Farb- 
werke). 
3 lbs. olive oil soap. 

The second bath should be used at a luke- 
warm temperature, and the goods should run 
in it foj- 20 minutes, then rinsed off, hydro- 
extracted and dried. A large number of other 
direct cotton blacks may be employed in the 
same general manner, and the special one 
selected will depend to a great extent on cir- 
cumstances, such as the exact tone of color 
desired and the cost at which the color Is 
offered. 

Knit goods are generally dyed in the roll 



i8 



KNIT GOODS DYEING 



cr piece. Several rolls are tied together, fo^:m- 
ing a long chain, the number of rolls to the 
chain being dependent on the weight of the 
fabric. A wooden dyeing machine. Figs. 1 and 
2, is employed, consisting of a tub pro\ided 
with a revolving winch on top. The chains of 
cloth are passed over the winch and circulated 




through the dye liquor in the tub below. 
Usually from eight to twelve chains are run 
in one machine side by side. As the goods 
come up from the liquor they are passed 
through a set of small squeeze rolls and then 
run on the revolving winch. The squeeze rolls 
and winch should be so set and run at such 
relative speeds that there is as little tension 
on the cloth as possil^le, as the tension while 
the cloth is running in the dyeing operation 
tends to stretch the goods out of shape and 
also materially reduce their elasticity. 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 19 

The machine employed for the previous 
wetting-out or scouring of the cloth is similar 
in every respect to that employed for dyeing. 
Unless a number of successive lots are to be 
dyed, the goods may be rinsed off or topped 
off in the machine used for dyeing, simply 




FIG. 2 

running off the dye liquor and refilling with 
fresh water. 

The black obtained by the use of the direct 
colors, though cheap and easily applied, is not 
very fast either to washing or perspiration. It 
is these two qualities of fastness which are 
most desirable in the case of knit goods, as 



20 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

this character of fabric is made into garments 
which are to be worn next to the skin and 
which must undergo continual laundering. 
Black knit goods, however, for underwear are 
only used for special purposes, such as theat- 
rical tights, etc., and sometimes cheapness of 
color may be more desirable than fastness. 

To obtain a good fast black on knit goods 
either of two methods is available: (a) dye- 
ing with developed dyestuff; or (b) dyeing 
with a sulphur black. 

The following example will suffice to illus- 
trate the method of dyeing with a developed 
dyestuff: 

For 100 lbs. of goods: 

6 lbs. Diamine Black B H. 

(Cassella Color Co.) 
2 lbs. soda ash. 
20 lbs. glauber's salts, calcined. 

The goods are entered in the dye bath at 
about 160° F., and run for 15 minutes, then 
the temperature is raised to the boiling point 
and the dyeing continued for 3 minutes. The 
steam is then shut off and the bath allowed 
to cool down for about 20 minutes. This 
method allows of a better absorption of the 
dyestuff than if the bath were kept at the 
boiling temperature throughout the entire 
dyeing operation. 

The goods are now rinsed off slightly in 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 21 

order to remove the superfluous dyestuff solu- 
tion mechanically adhering to the surface of 
the fibers. They are then entered into a fresh 
bath known as the diazotizing solution. This 
bath is prepared in the following manner: 

5 lbs. sodium nitrite. 

5 lbs. sulphuric acid cone. 

The nitrite is first dissolved in water and 
added to the bath, then the sulphuric acid is 
slowly run in and the liquor well stirred up. 
This bath is employed cold and the goods are 
run in it for about 20 minutes. 

The goods are then rinsed off and immedi- 
ately passed into a third bath known as the 
developing solution, which is made up in the 
following manner: 

1 lb. phenylene diamine. 
4 ozs. soda ash. 

They are dissolved together in some boiling 
water and then added to the cold dye bath. 
The goods are run in this solution for 20 min- 
utes, then rinsed off in a lukewarm and dilute 
soap solution for the purpose of brightening 
and softening the fiber. The black has a very 
good depth and tone, and is very fast to wash- 
ing and perspiration. This class of blacks is 
largely employed for knit goods. The cost of 
dyeing, especially on account of the number of 



22 KMT GOODS DYEING 

baths, is considerably more than for the direct 
blaelis. 

The sulphur dyes form a very desirable 
class of colors for the dyeing of knit goods, 
as they are rather cheap, are easily applied in 
one bath and yield colors that have excellent 
fastness to both washing and perspiration. 
The fastness to washing, in fact, is better than 
for the developed colors. The following ex- 
ample illustrates the method of applying the 
sulphur dyes to" knit goods: 
For 100 lbs. of goods: 

10 lbs. Sulphur Black A extra. 

(Berlin Aniline Co.) 
10 lbs. sodium sulphide (calcined). 

5 lbs. soda ash. 
50 lbs. common salt. 

The goods are entered in the bath at 160° 
F ., and the bath is then gradually brought up 
tc the boiling point and maintained there for 
4 5 minutes or one hour. The goods are then 
well rinsed off, or better yet, washed in a 
luke-warm bath containing a little soap and a 
small amount of olive oil in emulsion. This 
is for the purpose of softening and brighten- 
ing the cotton and also of giving a more lus- 
trous and better tone to the color. 

The proportions given above for the prep- 
aration of the dye bath are for the first bath. 
If the solution is to be employed as a standing 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 23 

bath these amounts may he very considerably 
decreased for the second and third baths. 

For the dyeing of black on knit goods con- 
taining a mixture of wool and cotton it is nec- 
essary to employ dyestuffs which are capable 
of dyeing on both fibers alike or to employ 
two separate baths, the one for the purpose 
of dyeing the cotton and the second for the 
dyeing of the wool. 

For a one-bath black on such knit goods 
the following may be recommended: 

For 100 lbs. of goods: 

S lbs. Azo Half Wool Black T L extra. 
(Metz & Co.) 
25 lbs. glauber's salt. 

The dyeing is started at a temperature of 
140° F., and gradually brought up to the boil- 
ing point and the dyeing then continued for 
about an hour. This will give a black having 
a fine tone of color and of good fastness. 

J. M. Matthews. 



As a Developed Black for dyeing hosiery 
Zambesi Black V (Berlin Aniline Co.) is well 
known to the hosiery trade on account of its 
beautiful bloomy shade. It is used both on 
cotton as well as on silk goods with excellent 
results. 

For 100 lbs. of hosiery use 

S to 10 lbs. Zambesi Black V 



24 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

to start with and 

25 to 30 lbs. common salt. 

In the standing kettle 25 to 3 per cent, 
less dyestuff is required and only 5 to 10 lbs. 
of common salt. 

The goods can be entered at the boil. Boil 
gently for one hour and rinse in two cold 
waters. 

Then diazotize for 20 minutes in a cold 1iath 
containing 

3 lbs. Nitrite of Soda and 
12 lbs. Muriatic acid.* 

[*In case of copper or brass dye vessels use 
about half the amount of Sulphuric Acid in 
place of the Muriatic Acid.] 

Rinse in two cold waters and develop im- 
mediately for 20 minutes in a cold bath con- 
taining 

1 lb. Meta Toluylene Diamine and 
1 lb. Soda Ash. 

Rinse in one cold water and soften as usual. 

Mercerized goods require about 25 per cent, 
less dyastuff than mentioned above; on silk 
goods it takes sometimes a little more. 

Of Sulphur Blacks, the brand Sulphur Black 
FAG Extra Strong is one of the most popu- 
lar. Although it does not yield as fine a 
shade as the one obtained with Zambesi Black 
V, it is a good substitute for Aniline Black. 
It is recommended principally for ordinary 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 2$ 

cotton goods. For mercerized goods Zambesi 
Black V is more advisable. 

For 100 lbs, of goods use in the 
1st kettle 
10 lbs. Soda Ash. 

20 lbs. Sulphide Soda Concentrated. 
10 lbs. Sulphur Black FAG Extra 

Strong. 
50 to 60 lbs. common salt. 
2nd kettle 

5 lbs. Soda Ash. 

12 lbs. Sulphide Soda Concentrated. 

8 lbs. Sulphur Black FAG Extra 

Strong. 
20 to 25 lbs. common salt. 
3rd kettle 
2 lbs. Soda Ash. 

9 lbs. Sulphide Soda Concentrated. 

7 lbs. Sulphur Black FAG Extra 

Strong. 
10 lbs. common salt. 

4th and standing kettle 
2 lbs. Soda Ash. 

8 lbs. Sulphide Soda Concentrated. 

6 lbs. Sulphur Black FAG Extra 

Strong. 
5 lbs. common salt, if needed. 
Enter the goods at the boil, boil gently for 
.3/4 hour and run 15 minutes without steam. 
Then wash in at least three cold waters and 



26 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

soften in fourth one at a temperature of about 
125° Fahr. for 15 minutes. 

In order to know the strength of the stand- 
ing kettle the usual method is to twaddle the 
dye liquor after all the chemicals, e;xcept the 
salt, have been added and boiled up thor- 
oughly. Take some of the liquor in a pail or 
some other suitable receptacle and allow it to 
cool down to 195° Fahr. Read the twaddle- 
meter at this temperature only. If the liquor 
shows a density of 3° Twaddle or over, no 
salt is required for the standing kettle; if it 
is less than 3°, add from 5 to 7 1/2 lbs. com- 
mon salt. 

Sulphur Black is not suitable for silk goods. 



Preparing Bleaching Liquor 

What is the best way to prepare bleaching 
liquor for the bleach vat? We want the most 
modern and up-to-date method. Sometimes 
we have yarns that are somewhat red in color 
and in going through the boiling and bleaching 
process we find this color will not bleach out 
white. Please give us a recipe for a boiling 
compound to use with a regular caustic soda 
boil that will remove this yellow color. 

Clifton (2070). 

The best method of preparing bleaching 
liquor is by using the electrolyzer. The liquor 
is free from sediment and can be regulated to 
produce a uniform strength of bleaching 
liquor. Another very good method of prepar- 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 2/ 

ing- bleaching- liquor is to mix the chemic 
powder with soda ash, thus producing' sodium 
hypochlorite, which gives a better white than 
the ordinary bleaching liquor, and allowing 
the goods to remain in the chemic bath a little 
longer with less risk of tendering. 

Prom the information "Clifton" gives I feel 
sure that the trouble is not caused by the 
method of preparing the bleaching liquor. 
The trouble is caused either by the goods not 
being bleached long enough or by making the 
liquor too strong. It is not necessary to use 
any bleaching compound, soap, or bleaching 
assistant in a caustic boil as this has a tend- 
ency to aggravate the trouble. On one occa- 
sion I had to bleach a lot of cotton similar to 
that which "Clifton" refers to. I bleached it, 
took it back and rebleached it, but all to no 
purpose. I drew this to the attention of the 
cotton sampler, who was an expert on cotton, 
and he informed me that the cotton had 
grown on swampy, marshy ground and was 
called "black" cotton. When this cotton is 
held up to the light it gives the reddish tint 
"Clifton" complains of. The same result will 
follow if the chemic is used too strong, espe- 
cially in a caustic bleach, as this has a tend- 
ency to force the bleach. 

The cause of the difficulty might be traced 
to the kier. If the liquor drawn from the kier 



28 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

is very dirty and discolored 'Clifton" should 
make a second weak mixture of soda ash and 
boil again for three or four hours, noting the 
second liquor that is drawn off. This method 
requires less chemic than does one boil and 
produces a better white without adding either 
goap, resin or bleaching assistant. A com- 
pound will not work as well in a caustic boil 
as in a lime boil. If the following method is 
carried out good results should follow. In 
the first liquor use a 1 to 2 per cent, solution 
of caustic soda according to quality of goods 
to be bleached. Boil five to six hours. Flush 
the kier for half an hour and mix a 1 to 1 1/2 
per cent, solution of soda ash and boil for 
another three to four hours. Draw off the 
liquor and wash well using a chemic solution 
of not higher than 1° Tw. Let the goods age 
lor three to five hours and sour off with an 
acid solution of 1 1/2° Tw. When the goods 
have aged for a couple of hours to neutralize 
the chemic, wash off and finish. If the chemic 
is mixed with soda ash I feel sure that a bet- 
ter and more lasting white which will not turn 
yellow with age will be the result. Alpha. 



Water for Bleaching Cotton Knit Goods 

We are enclosing an analysis of water. 
Would this water be suitable for bleaching 
cotton knit goods? If not, how could it be 
treated to make it so. 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 29 

Contains: Grains per Gallon. 

Silica 1.9244 

Iron and Alumina 1633 

Sodium Chloride (Salt) 2216 

Sodium Sulphate 6123 

Potassium Sulphate 3966 

Calcium Carbonate (Carbo- 
nate of Lime) 2.2978 

Magnesium Carbonate 4082 

Total Solids by Evaporation ..6.1350 

Matthew (19 26). 
In bleaching cotton knit goods it is advis- 
able to use as pure a water as possible. The 
reason for this is not only to effect an econ- 
omy in the use of the chemicals employed for 
the actual bleaching and boiling out proc- 
esses, but also with an idea of obtaining a 
better quality of bleached fabric. The softer 
and cleaner the water used, the softer and 
cleaner will be the resulting cloth after 
bleaching. 

From the analysis of the water as given in 
the inquiry, I would say it would be classified 
as a moderately soft water, but from the fact 
that it contains quite an appreciable quantity 
of iron, it is liable to give trouble in boiling 
out and bleaching. If the iron were removed 
and the water also properly softened, it would 
be very good to use in bleaching. While It 
could be used untreated and perhaps quite 
satisfactory results obtained, if the knit goods 



30 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

are bleached on the open run, nevertheless, I 
would recommend that the water be filtered. 
Before the prospective manufacturer de- 
cides definitely on this matter it would be 
best for him to take the advice of a suitable 
consulting chemist experienced in the matter 
of bleaching- cotton goods. Howell. 

A sample of water shows upon analysis to 
contain 

Grains per Gallon. 

Silica 1.9244 

Iron and Alumina 1633 

Sodium Chloride 2216 

Sodium Sulphate 6123 

Potassium Sulphate 3966 

Calcium Carbonate 2.2978 

Magnesium Carbonate 4082 



Total solids by evaporation. . 6.13 50 
This water is not unsuited for hosiery 
bleaching provided the quantity of iron pres- 
ent does not materially increase. The figure 
(.163 3) given in the analysis is for both "iron 
and alumina," with the presumption in favor 
of the alumina predominating, in which case 
no serious results will be had. The analysis 
shows that the "hardness" of the water is 
about 3 1/2°, which is comparatively low, 
and which could hardly be improved to ad- 
vantage. 



Kl.EAClilNG AND FINISHING ^I 

The iron can be practically removed by 
aerating- the water, that is, arranging a sort 
of fountain or spray so that the water in fine 
particles come in contact with the air which 
then oxidizes the iron to the insoluble ferric 
state, when it is removed by sand or other 
form of filtration. 

A simple means exists for purifying water 
by the quick adding of chemicals. The com- 
monest water purifying system is based upon 
the use of caustic soda and milk of lime, both 
in very small quantities calculated upon a 
number of analyses, and which cause a most 
complete removal of dissolved impurities, in- 
cluding iron, which is the most objectionable 
impurity from the bleacher's point of view. 

Beta Naphthol. 



Bleaching Silk Hose 

Please give us a recipe for bleaching silk 
hose. Elect (2199). 

Silk hosiery is bleached with either peroxide 
of sodium or peroxide of hydrogen. The hy- 
drogen peroxide is much easier to handle, 
although a little more expensive than the 
other. A cement tub having lead steam pipes 
is necessarj\ Boil the hosiery first with 8 
per cent. Turkey red oil and 8 per cent, sili- 
cate of soda for 2 hours. It is also advisable 
to use 10 per cent, of a neutral olive oil soap. 



32 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

Rinse twice in warm water after boiling and 
enter in a boiling bleach prepared as follows. 
For 100 lbs. hosiery: 

Add to boiling liquor 

15 gals. 10 vol. Hydrogen Peroxide, 
2 qts. Silicate of Soda, alkaline reaction. 

The silicate must be previously dissolved in 
boiling water. Stir the bath thoroughly, enter 
goods and let stand for 2 to 4 hours. If 
cotton toes and heels are present they will 
bleach more slowly than the silk fiber. When 
the desired whiteness is obtained rinse twice 
in cold water and blue if necessary. The 
peroxide bath should he as concentrated as 
possible. Seminole. 



Bleachery for Ladies' and Children's 
Underwear 

Can any of your bleachers tell me why yel- 
low marks appear in bleaching and finishing 
our ladies' and children's underwear. 

P. W. Co. (3226). 

Some years ago I was working in a lace 
mill as bleacher and finisher when a manu- 
facturer of knit goods came along and asked 
me for some information regarding bleaching 
underwear, as he intended to install a bleach- 
ing plant in connection with his mill. I told 
him all I could, gave him the information, 
and in about six months' time I was taken 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 33 

into their employ. They were then having a 
number of complaints about yellow places in 
the goods and the difficulty was so serious 
that they discharged their dyer. They had a 
bleachery large enough to take care of two 
mills. There were six tanks in a line, each 6 
feet by 4 feet by 4 feet; two large iron tanks 
for mixing chloride of lime; a large laundry 
washing machine and a hydro-extractor. 

When I looked into the first tank I found 
that the former dyer had been using it for a 
boiling kier. He had the steam pipe below 
the false bottom. I found a piece of cast iron 
pipe to use as a vomit pipe. I did not like 
the idea of boiling from the bottom. While 
the vomit pipe was being fixed I looked over 
the other tanks and found that No. 2 tank 
had been used for washing off; No. 3, as a 
bleaching tank; No. 4, for washing off; No. 5, 
for souring, and No. 6, for washing off. 

I saw right away that the goods need not 
be handled all the way down the line of tanks, 
so I got No. 1 tank ready and the dyer threw 
the rolls in, one on top of another. It seems 
that this was the way the work had been 
done previously, so I began to see right away 
what had caused the yellow marks. I put a 
piece of pipe through the center of the roll 
and hung the pipe up by its two ends. I then 
took the end of the goods and walked out 



34 KXIT GOODS DYEING 

with it aliout 12 yards, laid the goods back 
and forth and fastened them up with rags one 
yard apart 

When the goods were all tied up 1 weighed 
them. To 100 lbs. of goods I used 1 lb. caus- 
tic soda and 1/2 lb. soda ash. I boiled the 
goods four hours, run them off, then put on 
water and steam together and brought them 
to a boil; run off and this time made them 
cool enough to handle. 

Then I put the goods into No. 2 tank, which 
I had filled with a chloride of lime solution at 
2° Tw. I let them stay in this solution about 
45 minutes, when I put some planking over 
one-half the tank and lifted the goods on it 
to drain the chloride of lime liquor back into 
the tank. The goods were next washed in 
cold water, and soured in the washer by run- 
ning for 15 minutes in a solution of sulphuric 
acid at 1/2° Tw., and rinsing. Next came a 
run in a light suds of olive oil soap and blu- 
ing. Run off and put in an extractor. 

While one batch was running in the washer 
another batch was being boiled. The first 
batch was hung up to dry and the next morn- 
ing the goods were a good color and soft to 
the feel. When the goods were taken from 
No. 3 tank the next morning the manager 
wanted to know where the other three tanks 
came in. I told him we had no use for them. 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 35 

He said it had cost him thousands of dollars 
for bad work and extra machines. 

One day the manager came along with 
some union suits he wanted" scoured. They 
were a mixture of wool and cotton. I found 
out what length he wanted when finished and 
put them in the washing machine, wet them 
out and then put in some good soap. I ran 
them in this solution ten minutes and then 
stopped and measured a few of them. When 
the length was right I took a note of the 
time required and it was an easy matter to 
finish up the rest. Hector. 

Finishing Merino Hosiery 

Under another cover we are sending you a 
sample of our 10 8-needle merino half hose. 
This is made out of yarns that will run 100 
grains to 50 yards, about equal to a No. 4 cot- 
ton in the heel, toe and leg. We have always 
had a lot of trouble in finishing these goods, 
or goods of this character, so that they would 
come out smooth at the points where the 
heels and toes are looped on. There seems to 
be for some reason too much yarn in the heels 
and toes, causing them at this point to pucker 
up or rather to buckle up, giving them the 
appearance of being poorly finished. We have 
tried to overcome this in every way, but even 
if these goods are put on boards and pressed 
it does not take up the excess yarn at these 
points, but simply folds it over and wrinkles it. 
We also have some difficulty in getting the 
heels and toes even at the points where the 



36 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

two looper seams end, which should be ex- 
actly opposite each other near the center ®f 
the heel and toe. There is a tendency for the 
heels and toes to appear lop-sided after they 
are finished. There will appear to be more of 
the white heel and toe showing on one side of 
the sock than there is on the other, no matter 
how carefully thej are boarded. There is a 
dispute between our knitting and finishing de- 
partments as to whose fault this is, each 
claiming that the other is to blame. It looks 
to us as though the difficulty was mechanical, 
as no board that we can fit these socks to will 
produce a smooth heel and toe, without buck- 
ling up or causing bad folds or wrinkles in 
them. Wilcox (19 64). 

One may suggest forty remedies to right 
the trouble and yet may locate the difficulty 
at the first suggestion. Examining the sample, 
I find it is twisted from leg to toe, which is 
the reason for the points not meeting together 
as they should. I would suggest "softening" 
the yarn, which will add much to the appear- 
ance of the sock, giving better face and finish. 
This should have a tendency to eradicate the 
twist and keep it straight. Failing in this, 
have the spinner give an opposite twist on the 
yarn, as the material cannot but come out as 
it does where the twist is same as run of 
inachine. The "softening" should do much 
and the cost of doing this is hardly worth 
taking into consideration. Most certainly the 
yarn should not be knit dry. 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING Zl 

For softening the yarn fix a small trough 
on the winder (where the yarn passes through 
shippers) and have a metal drum revolving 
therein. The mixture of softening is 5 pounds 
good quality soap, 1 quart lard oil to about 30 
gallons of water. Have yarn pass over the 
drum. If only a little softening is desired 
have drum revolve with yarn, or revolve to 
the right; if wanted or necessary to be well 
softened have drum revolve against the yarn. 

Kentland. 



Boiling Off Silk Knit Goods 

I expect to be called upon to knit silk with 
the gum in it and would like to know the best 
formula for removing the gum after knitting. 
Can vou give me some information on this 
subject. Knitter (2013). 

The first requirement is soft water and the 
second good soap containing no free alkali 
and a large percentage of perfectly saponified 
fat. White curd soap, guaranteed neutral, is 
principally used for discharging silk gum in 
England and the most careful users find that 
it pays handsomely to buy the very best in 
the market. It pays waste-silk spinners, for 
example, to buy a make of soap costing 2.5 
per cent, more than the best quality that sec- 
ond-rank soap boilers can produce. The 
cheaper soap gives them approximately as 
good a luster and handle as the best soap, but 



38 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

the effect of the alkali shows itself in the sub- 
sequent loss in the form of waste. Free alkali 
weakens and destroys silk fibers, causes them 
to be brittle and to break and leads to a large 
production of fly-waste. The fact is men- 
tioned to emphasize the desirability of using 
the best quality. There are other reasons 
than those of strength because a dark soap 
will be prejudicial to the color and an inferior 
soap, although it may produce a good white 
to begin with, may lead goods treated with it 
to turn brown later under the action of sun- 
liglit 

It is advisable to use a soap containing 
about 64 per cent, of fat and 11 per cent, of 
alkalies and the strength of the solution to 
employ depends somewhat on the class of silk 
used. Probably 10 to 15 pounds of soap for 
100 pounds of goods will be sufficient with one 
to two hours' heating at 180° F. The goods 
will lose about 25 per cent, in weight. They 
can be "scrooped," if need be, by treating 
them finally in a weak solution of acetic acid. 

James Strand. 



Amount of Steam for Heating Water 

What amount of steam is necessary at 100 
pounds' pressure, to raise water at 60° F., in 
a wooden tub (capacity 10,000 pounds) to a 
temperature of 210° and keep it at this tem- 
perature for one hour? The temperature of 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 39 

the room is 60° F. The water surface exposed 
to the air is 3 8 1/2 square feet. 

Yorke (1998). 

' Yorke" states that the steam is under 100 
pounds pressure. At this pressure it will have 
a temperature of 33 8° F. and one pound of 
steam under such conditions will contain 1,189 
heat units. Since the quantity of water to be 
heated is 10,000 pounds and the initial tem- 
perature is 60° F., with a final temperature of 
210° F., this would mean that the necessary 
heat units required would be: 10,000 .X (210 
— 60) = 1,500,000 heat units. Since the 
water surface exposed to the air is 3 8 1/2 
square feet and the temperature of the room 
is 60° F., the heat lost by radiation from this 
surface will be as follows: 

Under normal conditions the heat lost from 
1 square foot of water surface during one 
hour, when the difference in temperature be- 
tween the water and the surrounding air is 
1° F., is equivalent to 1.0853 heat units. 
Consequently under the above conditions we 
have the total heat lost to be 1.0853 X 38.5 X 
150 = 6,267 heat units. This loss must be 
added to the quantity of heat required to raise 
the temperature of the water in the first place 
from 60 to 210, giving a total of 1,506,267. If 
this total quantity of heat units is now di- 
vided by 1,189, which factor is the total heat 
in a pound of steam, the result, 1,267 pounds. 



40 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

i& the cjuaiuity of steam at 100 pounds pres- 
sure required. 

This figure does not talce into consideration 
certain corrections which are necessary where 
extreme accuracy is required, but which lead 
to rather involved mathematical equations if 
considered, and for practical purposes the 
effect will not be to change the amount very 
largely. For example, the radiation of the 
heat takes place not only during the hour that 
the water is maintained at a temperature of 
210°, but it has been constantly going on dur- 
ing the time the water is being heated and the 
amount of radiation has been gradually in- 
creasing with the temperature of the water. 
Again, the factor 1.0853 which is given in text 
books as the quantity of heat radiated from 
one square foot of water in one hour when 
the difference in temperature between the 
water and the surrounding air is 1°, is a 
factor which is only approximately true when 
the water is at a comparatively low tempera- 
ture, that is, much below its boiling point; but 
when the water is raised to 210° F. it is just 
under the boiling point, and the amount of 
heat radiated will be proportionately greater, 
as there will also be a considerable quantity 
of steam coming from the water. 

A further correction would have to be made 
in a very accurate calculation to account for 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 4I 

the heat used up in the evaporation of the 
water, especially when it is approaching its 
highest temperature. 

Furthermore, another correction enters into 
the calculation to allow for the water added 
to the tub by the condensation of the steam 
used in heating it. All of these calculations 
involve the highest form of mathematics to 
deduce theoretically and since the conditions 
in practice are so varying, it would be impos- 
sible to solve a theoretically accurate mathe- 
matical equation to account for all these fac- 
tors unless a certain set of standard condi- 
tions be adopted; such as, for instance, the 
rate of flow of the steam into the water, the 
rate of evaporation of the water from the 
surface depending not only on its increase in 
temperature, but also on the question of air 
currents passing over the surface and also on 
the moisture and temperature of the air with 
which the water comes in contact. For prac- 
tical purposes, however, the approximate fig- 
ure which we have given will be sufficient. 

J. M. Matthews. 



Bleaching Goods Made from Ramie Yarn 

Can you give me a suggestion as to how to 
bleach the darker of the two enclosed samples 
a pure white ? I want a method of treating 
the tubings to get them white. The enclosed 
samples are made from ramie yarn, the 



42 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

darker piece being domestic and the clear 
white made from imported ramie yarn, 

Lenox (1917). 

The- tinctorial properties of ramie are sim- 
ilar to those of cotton. The cheapest way of 
bleaching- ramie is with chloride of lime. The 
material is first boiled off either in an open 
tub or a closed kier. The more care given to 
this operation the better will be the results of 
the bleaching process. It is indispensable to 
add to the boiling bath 3 to 6 per cent, of cal- 
cined soda or 1 to 3 per cent, of caustic soda 
at 38° to 40° B. A small quantity of rosin 
soap is sometimes added and the ramie is 
boiled for .5 to 8 hours. The boiling-off is 
sometimes done with soda and milk of lime, 
which corresponds theoretically to boiling 
with caustic soda, but at a somewhat lower 
price. 

After boiling off the material is rinsed and 
then immersed in a bath of chloride of lime 
1/2° to 1° B, It is better to prepare a fresh 
bath every day. After leaving the ramie in 
the bath for 6 to 10 hours, it is removed, 
rinsed and soured with dilute hydrochloride 
or sulphuric acid. The material is then rinsed 
thoroughly, passed through a hot soap solu- 
tion and blued with Outremer blue. 

When a pure white is desired the material 
is subjected to this process a second time. At 
the second treatment the bleaching bath is 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 43 

either made weaker or the material is left in 
a bath of normal strength for a shorter time. 
The large bleacheries use special kiers in 
vvhich the material is subjected to the boilmg- 
off, bleaching, souring, rinsing and .soapmg 
operations without being removed, thus reduc- 
ing the cost of labor. In the small bleacher- 
ies the material is boiled in open tubs made 
either of copper or wood. The bleaching, 
souring and other operations are carried on 
in wooden tubs containing about 100 pounds 
of material. The proportion of material to 
liquor is about 1 pound to 20 pounds by 
weight. Care should be taken to avoid hav- 
ing anv solid pieces of chloride of lime in the 
bath, which should be perfectly clear and not 
too strong. The material should be stirred 
constantly. If these precautions are not taken 
there is danger of tendering the fiber. 

In some establishments the solutions are 
left standing for some time before being used 
in order to get a perfectly clear liquor. Care 
should also be taken to keep the ramie sub- 
merged in the liquor, otherwise contact with 
air will result in its becoming tender. 

Gaul. 

Goods of this material are usually bleached 
with sodium hypochlorite, although some 
bleachers prefer to use the ordinary solution 
of bleaching powder which is diluted to stand 



44 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

at 1 1/4° to 1 1/2° Tw. The most satisfac- 
tory method is to use the sodium hypochlorite 
solution prepared as described below. The 
actual bleaching may be done in wooden tanks 
of sufficient capacity to hold several hundred 
pounds of goods, or the bleaching may be 
done in an open tank over which is mounted 
a slowly revolving winch worked by hand or 
by a chain. This gives the bleach boss entire 
control of the operation. 

Ramie should be bleached cold, and after 
the process has advanced sufficiently for the 
grade of white desired, the material should 
be thoroughly rinsed with clean water, after- 
wards with one water containing a very small 
Quantity of muriatic acid, followed by a thor- 
ough rinse with clean water. If bleaching is 
effected with bleaching powder solution in- 
stead of sodium hypochlorite, the use of muri- 
atic acid is all the more necessary on account 
of the harsh feel generally imparted to the 
goods when oil of vitriol is used. 

Sodium hypochlorite is prepared by the 
bleacher in the following manner: Dissolve 
separately 100 pounds of 33 per cent, bleach- 
ing powder in 40 gallons of water, and 60 
pounds of soda ash in 20 gallons of boiling 
water, afterwards diluting with 10 gallons of 
cold water. The soda solution is then mixed 
with the bleaching powder paste, well stirred 
for one-half hour and allowed to settle over 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 45 

night. la the morning the clean solution is 
drawn off and the residue washed with several 
changes of clean water, the wash waters be- 
ing added to the main solution to bring it 
up to 150 gallons standing at 6° to 7° Tw. 
Now add 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of soda ash, allow 
to dissolve and let stand over night, when all 
the lime will be thrown out of solution. It is 
then ready for use by simple dilution in 
water. 

Care should be exercised in bleaching 
ramie not to allow it to remain in the bleach 
solutions longer than necessary to produce the 
degree of bleach desired, and further, to use 
as weak a bleach liquor as possible. Slow 
bleaching is always more thorough than rapid 
bleaching. Good washing after bleaching is 
equally as important as the proper strength 
of the bleach solutions. Berwick. 

Knit goods of ramie yarn may be bleached 
in the piece by the following method: The 
goods are first scoured or boiled out in a so- 
lution containing 2 per cent, of soap and 1 
per cent, of Turkey red oil, the cloth being 
run for one hour in this solution at a boiling 
temperature. The best way to handle the 
goods would be in a string-tub machine, 
where the goods are operated on in the form 
of a long string which Is carried through the 
scouring bath, up through squeeze rolls, and 



46 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

then over a large reel or winch, from which 
the goods fall back into the bath again (see 
figure). From eight to twelve strings of cloth 
may be run at once, each string being kept in 
place by passing through a pot eye or pin bar 
as it comes up from the liquor and before it 
reaches the equeeze rolls. 

After receiving a thorough scouring the 
goods are rinsed with warm water until all 
the soapy liquor has been removed. They 
may then be bleached by a number of proc- 



(1) For a bleach which will yield a very 
8oft fabric and retain the full strength and 
durability of the fiber, it is recommended to 
use the peroxide method. A bath should be 
prepared containing 10 gallons of hydrogen 
peroxide solution (of 10 volume strength) 
with 20 gallons of water and one pound of 
sodium silicate. A machine similar to the 
scouring vat may be used for bleaching, only 
no metal parts must be allowed to come in 
contact with the solution, and the steam 
pipes for heating must be made of lead. The 
goods are started in this bath cold, and the 
solution is gradually heated up to 180° F. 
After the goods have run for one hour, the 
strings are untied, taken from the reel, and 
completely immersed beneath the liquor, and 
allowed to stay overnight. They are then re- 
moved to the scouring machine where they 



• BLEACHING AND FINISHING 47 

are finally given a rinse with warm water, 
and the bleaching is finished. 

(2) For a cheaper bleach the chloride of 
lime method may be used. The goods are first 
boiled out in the manner already described. 
Thev are washed free from soapy liquors and 
then bleached by running in a cold solution of 




CKOSS SECTION OK SCOURING VAT. 

coueeie rolls, (b) Reel, (c) Coil of steam pipes beneath a 
perterated wooden paitition. (d) Pin bar or pot eye. 

Chloride of lime (chemic) standing at 1 3/4^ 
Tw. It will require about one hours' treat- 
ment in this bath. Then the cloth is well 
washed in cold water, and next given a treat- 
ment with 5 per cent, (on the weight of the 
goods) of anti-chlor (sodium bisulphite solu- 
tion of 36° Tw.) for 20 minutes cold. Finally 
a thorough w^ashing with cold water is given. 
To give a soft finish to the goods a further 



48 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

treatment may be given with a dilute soap 
bath at about 160° F., and if a bluish-white 
bleach is desired a little bluing may be added 
to the soap bath. Howell. 



Temperature for Drying 

What is the l)est temperature for drying 
hosiery previous to boarding? We want the 
goods left in the best condition to secure a 
finish. We make 176 and 200-needle carded 
mule spun and mercerized goods. 

Craigie (1905). 

A low temperature of 70° or 80° F. is best. 
Spread the stockings in an open box drier on 
wire screen shelves and force all the air pos- 
sible through them from a large fan at the 
]>ottom of the drier. Stir the goods up occa- 
sionally to prevent their drying out in spots. 
This also tends to prevent marks where they 
are creased or folded. This is an excellent 
method, because it allows the boarders to get 
out a good production on a moderate heat. 

To obtain the best results do not let the 
hosiery lie around wet after it comes from the 
hydro-extractor. Winwick. 



Non-Shrinkable Process for Knit Goods 

We are having some trouble with the color 
of our worsted goods which we put through a 
non-shrinkable bath. The fabric we are treat- 
ing is what is known as a sanitary mix and 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 49 

contains a percentage of brown wool. What 
we would like to get is a good non-shriknable 
process. Possibly you know of some method 
of bringing the clear white color back again 
after the treatment has yellowed it. We are 
forwarding sample swatches of the cloth be- 
fore and after this process. The difficulty 
seems to be that the fabric turns yellow after 
going through the non-shrinkage bath. The 
fabric we are sending you is 50 per cent, wor- 
sted and 5 per cent, cotton, the worsted being 
on the face. The process which we use for 
treating the goods is muriatic acid and bleach- 
ing powder. Gerrard (2041). 

There is but one process for rendering knit 
goods non-shrinkable, and it has suffered very 
slight modifxcations at the hands of different 
workmen The only practical way of render- 
ing knit goods or wool fiber in any other form 
Ron-shrinkable, is to treat it with chlorine 
under certain conditions. It is immaterial 
whether the goods contain cotton or not. Al- 
though the cotton is not injured by the proc- 
ess, the fabric after having been treated 
should not be allowed to dry out until thor- 
oughly washed. Lead lined tanks may be 
used for the process, but they are not a neces- 
sity. 

The goods to be treated are scoured and 
rinsed free from all grease, and are made up 
into batches of sufficient size for proper han- 
dling. A solution is made by adding 7 1/2 
gallons of commercial muriatic acid (about 



50 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

73 pounds) of 35 per cent, strength, to 50U 
gallons of cold water. The material is then 
immersed in this bath for 15 minutes or until 
thoroughly saturated, then lifted and allowed 
to drain well, and, without rinsing, imme- 
diateb' immersed in a solution of 20 per cent, 
of bleaching powder, calculated upon the 
weight of the goods. The goods are kept in 
this solution for 1/2 hour during which time 
they are given several turns, then lifted and 
reentered into the muriatic acid bath, where 
they are kept for 20 minutes additional. Fol- 
lowing this they are rinsed thoroughly and 
treated for 15 minutes in a bath heated to 
100° F., and containing 50 pounds of bisul- 
phite of soda per 500 gallons of water, then 
lifted and finally rinsed. This bisulphite bath 
is employed for the purpose of removing the 
last traces of hypochlorous acid from the 
goods, and also to correct the objectionable 
yellow tone which white wool takes on when 
treated with chlorine. 

The bleaching powder bath above men- 
tioned is prepared in the following way: fine, 
dry chloride of lime containing 3 5 per cent of 
available chlorine, as determined by assay, is 
stirred to a uniform paste in a lar^e stone 
crock, or other suitable vessel, with five times 
its weight of cold water. When all lumps 
have disappeared, fifteen times the weight of 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 5 1 

water is poured on the paste and the whole 
stirred and allowed to settle, after which the 
clear liquid is drawn off for use. It will be 
found convenient in carrying out this process 
to have suitable testing apparatus and chem- 
icals at hand for determining the strength of 
the chlorine liquor, as but little reliance can 
be placed on Twaddle glasses for chlorine 
strength. Hardly two solutions of bleaching 
powder made at different times and showing 
the same degree on the glass will have the 
same content of chlorine, and it is the chlorine 
only that is of use in making the wool non- 
shrinkable. 

In connection with the foregoing, it may be 
of interest to note that a scroopy or silk-like 
feel on goods treated as above can be obtained 
by passing the goods for 10 minutes through 
a bath containing 5 pounds of olive oil soap 
per 100 gallons of water, then souring off 
lightly in dilute muriatic acid; then whiz and 
dry. 

A soft handle to the goods is given by pass- 
ing the chlorine-treated material through a 
bath made with 

% to 1 lb. Olive Oil Soap 
1% to 3 ozs. Olive Oil 

1 oz. Ammonia (20% strength) 
per 12% gallons of water. 

The goods are soaked in this bath for 15 



52 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

minutes, whizzed and dried. The bath is not 
heated. It should be further noted that wool 
that has been chlored or made non-shrinlcable 
has a much greater affinity for dyes than wool 
not so treated. L. J. Matos. 



Methods of Bleaching Hosiery 

What is the method most commonly em- 
ployed in bleaching hosiery? Which is the 
cheapest, the lime, peroxide or electric process. 

Bradford (1971). 

For the bleaching of cotton hosiery of the 
ordinary grades the most common and notably 
the cheapest method is to use bleach liquors 
prepared from chloride of lime. The hosiery 
should first be boiled out with alkali in a suit- 
able kier, or if such is not available, it may 
be boiled in a washing machine for 2 to 4 
hours with 2 per cent, of caustic soda and 2 
per cent, of soda ash, calculated on the weight 
of the goods. The material is then thoroughly 
washed and is treated with a chloride of lime 
solution of 1 1/2° Tw. This treatment is car- 
ried out in the cold and should be for a period 
of about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The goods should 
be kept immersed beneath the liquor during 
this time. 

Then a thorough washing should be given 
with plenty of fresh water, and the excess of 
chlorine compounds may then be removed bj-- 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 53 

treatment with a bath of anti chlor (sodium 
bisulphite) using about 5 per cent, of the 
sodium bisulphite liquor (3 6° Be.) on the 
weight of the goods. This bath is used cold 
and for about one-half hour. A very thor- 
ough washing is then given the material for 
the purpose of removing all the chemicals and 
the bleaching is finished. 

Should it be desired to give the color a 
bluish tint, a final finishing bath may be given 
in which a small amount of bleacher's tint 
may l)e employed together with 1 to 3 per 
cent, of cotton softener. This bath is main- 
tained at a lukewarm temperature (120° to 
140° F.) for one-half hour and the goods are 
then taken out and extracted without further 
washing. 

A softer bleaching can be obtained by using 
a solution of hypochlorite in place of the 
chloride of lime liquor. Sodium hypochlorite 
can be obtained in ready-made form as a so- 
lution in carboys. In this form it is quite ex- 
pensive compared with chloride of lime. It 
can be made, however, by the bleacher him- 
self very readily from a solution of soda ash 
and liquid chlorine. The latter is now avail- 
able on the market at a cheap price and 
forms a very convenient and easy method of 
preparing bleaching solutions of sodium hypo- 
chlorite. 



54 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

Sodium hypochlorite may also be prepared 
by the electrolysis of a solution of common 
salt. This requires the installation of an elec- 
trolyzing- outfit and if electric energy is avail- 
able at a cheap rate, the electrolytic method 
is a very convenient and cleanly method of 
handling the preparation of bleach liquors. 

The method of bleaching with peroxide 
(either sodium peroxide or hydrogen per- 
oxide solutions) is excellent but more expen- 
sive than the method of bleaching with hypo- 
chlorites, either of lime or soda. For the or- 
dinary and low grades of cotton hosiery the 
cost of peroxide bleaching would probabb' be 
too great, but where fine grades are l)eing 
operated on and also where the goods consist 
of mixtures of cotton and wool, or cotton and 
silk, then the peroxide bleach may be used 
with great advantage. 

J. Merritt Matthews. 



Handling G.oods in Bleachery 

Please advise us as to the sizes of knitting 
machines for knitting 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 vest and 
umbrella pants, using a one and one rib and 
cut to shape. Is there any special way of 
handling this line of goods from the knitting 
to the bleachery and then to the cutters? Also 
advise us as to the an>ount of strength this 
garment will have in stretching on the last 
turner. Knitter (19 85). 

Regarding the sizes, the correspondent 



BLEACTIING AND FINISHIXG 55 

should lirst decide on the weight of the gar- 
ment, size of yarn and gauge of machine, as 
the weight of the garment can be varied by 
the gauge and size of yarn. I give here the 
sizes of machines for No. 25 yarn knit on a 
machine with cylinder and dial cut 12 needle 
to the inch: Size 4, 15 inch; Size 5, 16 inch; 
Size 6, 17 inch; Size 7, 18 inch; Size 8, 19 
inch; Size 9, 20 inch. These are the sizes to 
get a full sized garment, although I believe 
that the majority of makers would use one 
size smaller where they sell to jobbers and 
have to meet a certain price. 

The best way to handle this cloth from 
knitter to bleacher and from bleacher to cut- 
ter is in the fold, so as to avoid all stretching 
and pulling. I believe, however, that the ma- 
jority of this work is sent to the bleacher in 
rolls and after bleaching rolled in rolls again 
over a calender dryer, then the roll is put on 
a folding machine, the goods laid in folds and 
left to condition before cutting. Madison. 



Bleaching Cotton and Silk Mixtures 

I would like an explanation as to how mix- 
tures of cotton and silk are bleached. 

Oakes (3237). 

The bleaching of mixtures of cotton and silk 
presents special difficulties. Half silk cannot 
be successfully bleached with chlorine oom- 



56 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

pounds, because of their action on the silk. 
On the other hand, sulphur compounds cannot 
be used, as the sulphurous acid retained in 
the fiber will oxidize to sulphuric acid and 
tend to carbonize the cotton. 

Bleaching with peroxide of sodium is an 
oxidizing process. The natural coloring mat- 
ter receives an additional amount of oxygen 
and forms a white soluble compound, which 
is removed by subsequently rinsing the goods. 
If water acidulated with sulphuric acid is neu- 
tralized with sodium peroxide, hydrogen per- 
oxide is formed and glauber salts remains in 
solution. If an alkali is added, the hydrogen 
peroxide in contact with the fiber will decom- 
pose into water and active oxygen, which oxi- 
dizes the natural coloring matter to a white 
soluble compound. 

When bleaching half-silk the goods should 
first be boiled out with a soap free from caus- 
tic. A concentrated bleaching solution should 
be used. If the solution is too weak the 
bleaching process will be too slow and the silk 
may as a result be of a yellow or brown shade. 
The inside of the bleaching vat should be cov- 
ered with canvas, as the wood, especially near 
knots, has a tendering action on the cotton. It 
is necessary to prevent any metal from getting 
into the bath. Lead or any other metal pipes 
should be avoided. If the steam is free from 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 57 

iron the bath may be heated by a rubber hose 
with direct steam. If lead pipes are used to 
heat the bath, the liberated oxygen will com- 
bine with some of the lead to form lead per- 
oxide, which is readily absorbed by the silk, 
giving it a yellow shade. 

The required quantity of sulphuric acid is 
added to enough water to cover the goods 
v.ithout crowding. Then sodium peroxide is 
added under constant stirring until the bath 
shows a neutral reaction with litmus paper. 
The bath is then heated to 140° F. Just be- 
fore the goods are entered the bath is made 
slightly alkaline, preferably with sodium sili- 
cate. As soon as the goods are a good white, 
they must be taken out of the bath and rinsed 
several times to remove the glauber salts and 
the natural coloring matter that has been oxi- 
dized. If the goods are left in the bath too 
long the silk will turn yellow. As bleaching 
with peroxide of sodium is an oxidizing proc- 
ess, the goods will not turn yellow after a 
white has been obtained, because the oxidized 
coloring matter has been removed by the sub- 
sequent rinsing. Granicus. 



Uneven Shades in Dyeing Hosiery 

The enclosed samples of hosiery have been 
dyed together in the same batch by the ordi- 
nary oxidized aniline black process. You will 
notice by comparing -the two stockings that 



58 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

one is a bluish black and the other has a 
brownish tint. This happens quite frequently 
and I would like to know what causes the 
trouble and how it can be remedied. 

Dyer (1957). 

Not knowing the exact process through 
which these goods were put it is hard for one 
to give the cause and remedy for the uneven 
dyeing, but the following may be a few of the 
causes: To begin with it is necessary that the 
goods in question be thoroughly wet out or 
Itoiled out, and that they are boiled out uni- 
formly before they go to the dollys, or pound- 
ers, for the so-called first process. Second, 
the goods must all be taken out of this liquor 
and hydro-extracted for from 3 to 5 minutes. 
Do not let the goods get too dry. Then spread 
out evenly in the ageing or oxidizing cham- 
bers or cages. The heat in these cages should 
not exceed 95° F., or at the very most 100°. 
Here let them stay for 4 or 5 hours, accord- 
ing to the depth of the shade required. This 
is the most important part of the whole 
process. 

Sometimes a few pair or a dozen stockings 
will be accidentally left over and go through 
the same process with the next lot, and this 
may be the cause in the case under considera- 
tion. It is a good plan if crowded for time 
and space to dump the stockings out to age 
for another hour or two before starting the 



BI.EACHING AND FINISHING 59 

goods on the next process. The goods should 
now be brought to the washers or reverse ma- 
chines for the chroming process, and this is 
another place where shades may be varied. 
Here again the operative may leave a few 
stockings in the chrome liquor, and conse- 
quently these will go through the same proc- 
ess again, making a darker and browner 
shade on the goods. 

After chroming the goods must be thor- 
oughly rinsed. I would suggest that the fore- 
man follow one batch right through each 
process, and if he finds one batch to come out 
all right, he should check up the different 
processes all the way through. I have no 
doubt but that this difficulty is caused by an 
uneven wetting of the goods, or else some of 
the goods being left over from one process to 
another. This might also be caused by either 
too little or too much extracting, or uneven 
heat in the oxidizing cages. By following up 
each process carefully I never have uneven 
shades. Edgrmoor. 



Marking" Knit Goods to Stand Bleaching 

C^an you give us any information in regard 
to marking knit goods that we have to bleach? 
We have never found a satisfactory method of 
marking the cloth before it goes into the kier. 

Salem (1052). 



60 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

"Salem" can overcome this difficulty by 
using coal tar diluted with carbolic acid to a 
consistency of thick cream. This will with- 
stand the bleaching- process. It is used with 
stamps and a pad. The pad is made in the 
following manner: Get a shallow box the size 
of the stamp required, put in a layer of thick 
felt at the bottom, spread over this felt a thin 
layer of diluted coal tar, then cover with a 
piece of rag or waste knit goods. It is then 
ready for use. Press the stamps on the top 
layer of cloth until the tar comes through on 
the stamp, then use it on your goods. 

The top cloth is to prevent too much tar 
from getting on the stamp and blurring the 
marks. Care should be taken to keep the 
stamps clean, as the flakes from the goods 
stick to the stamp and thus make the stamp- 
ing thick and blurred. I have blocks made of 
different shapes and sizes, with oval, triangle 
or diamond outlines for different purposes and 
the letter or figures are made on little blocks 
of wood which are inserted in the larger 
block. A thumb screw on the side holds 
them in place. Dulcimer. 



Bleached Goods Turning Yellow 

I am enclosing two samples of knit goods. 
Poth pieces were bleached with chlorine made 
from an electrolizer. I boil off for five hours 
in a Jefferson kier, using 2 per cent, bleaching 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 6l 

assistant, 1 per cent, caustic, 1/4 per cent. 
Turkey red oil, rinsing in a kier for one hour. 
I then take the goods out and wash in a ma- 
chine for one-half hour in hot water, then in 
cold water, then run them in the chlorine 
liquor for one hour at 2° Tw. Rinse in cold 
water for 20 minutes, sour in 5 per cent, anti- 
chlorine for 25 minutes, rinsing- thoroughly. 
Blue and take out, extract and dry in a Hurri- 
cane dryer at a temperature of 120° F. After 
the goods lie around for a few days they turn 
yellow. I also have the same trouble with my 
heavyweight goods. Duplan (1276). 

The electrolizer chlorine bleach is very 
popular and very good. "Duplan's" trouble 
may be in the bleaching. Another hour would 
do no harm. It is best not to use any Turkey 
red oil, as the oil retards the action of the 
caustic on the goods. The bleaching assistant, 
if it is a good one, should serve the purpose 
that the oil is used for. It seems to me that 
the chlorine bath is a little strong at 2° Tw., 
and would tend to force a white on the goods. 
It would be much better and cheaper if 
"Duplan" used the chlorine bath a little 
weaker and let the goods lie a little longer, 
instead of forcing them, as one hour is not 
long enough for the chlorine to do its work. 
If the goods are thoroughly bottomed in the 
boil for one hour, or the chlorine bath is too 
short, use the chlorine at 1° Tw. and leave 
the goods in longer, as 1" is strong enough 
unless the goods are very hea^'y• 



62 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

It seems to me that the antichlorine is not 
strong enough, otherwise the goods are not 
long enough in this bath to neutralize the 
chlorine in the goods. This will produce the 
trouble 'Duplan" is having. The drying at 
120° is all right, and the goods should be soft 
when dried at this temperature. 

If "Duplan" will try the following process 
for one batch of goods I am sure his trouble 
will disappear: 

Boil for 6 hours with 

2 per cent, bleaching paste, 
1 per cent, caustic soda, 
1 per cent, soda ash. 

Leave out the oil. Follow the usual process 
as to washing the goods, using the chlorine at 
1° Tw. and let the goods lie a little longer 
than before, or until they are a good white. 

The antichlorine used, whether it be muri- 
atic, acetic or sulphuric acid, should be tested 
and used about 1/2° Tw. stronger than the 
chlorine bath, leaving them long enough for 
the acid to neutralize the chlorine in the 
goods. Then wash and blue the goods and 
dry as usual. A lot of trouble in bleaching 
yarn, knit goods and piece goods is caused by 
rushing in the process to keep up the produc- 
tion and to keep down the cost, at the same 
time sacrificing the finish. Alpha. 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 63 

Uneven Bleaching 

In the caustic boil we have trouble with 
brown spots which the boil does not seem to 
strike, the cloth not being bleached evenly. 
Chadwick (1019). 

These brown spots may be due to several 
causes. The goods may be packed unevenly 
in the kier; in fact I think this is the chief 
cause of uneven bleaching. The goods should 
be plaited down level and not be allowed to 
fall in heaps. If the goods are put in the kier 
in a careless manner, or in lumps, it will be 
impossible for the liquor to penetrate the 
goods thoroughly. This will also cause the 
goods to be blown and tender in places if 
boiled long enough. 

Another cause for this trouble is not having 
enough liquor in the kier. If the goods are 
boiled in a high pressure kier, care must be 
taken not to have too much material in the 
kier. When the goods are packed level and 
even and the blocks are being put in for pack- 
ing, always leave a little space for the goods 
to swell before putting on the manhole covers. 
It is also important to have sufficient liquor 
in the kier. If there is not enough liquor 
brown spots will be noticed underneath the 
blocks. If the goods are boiled in the open 
low pressure kiers, no trouble can arise in 
bleaching except from uneven packing of the 



64 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

goods, insufficient liquor, or the goods being- 
underboiled. 

If the goods are boiled in the open kier, 
watch the plaiting of the cloth. Boil each 
kier the same length of time and see that the 
goods are well covered with liquor. If the 
spots still appear, watch another kier in the 
packing and give the goods one hour longer 
in the boil. I would not advise the use of 
stronger caustic until all other means have 
been tried. Delco. 



"Chadwick" does not state whether he uses 
an.v soap or not with the caustic. It might 
be well to use a little soap and boil the goods 
at least 12 hours. If the brown spots still 
show after the bleaching, souring and wash- 
ing, it would be well to put the goods into a 
^at and give them a clear boil for one-half 
hour. Cool them off with two waters, give 
them a weak bleach and then sour. I do 
not think the cloth is properly boiled in the 
first place, and that is the source of all the 
trouble. Winthrop. 

Uneven bleaching is nearly always caused 
by the improper treatment in the boiling 
process. The goods must be clean and free 
from all foreign materials before entering the 
kettle. In handling knit goods it is not neces- 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 65 

sary to give them a very severe treatment. It 
the caustic is boiled in a separate kettle and 
the goods are wet out evenly no brown spots 
Nvill appear, ll' the cloth is put in the kier dry 
and cold water run in and the caustic added 
the goods will come out uneven and spotted. 
The goods must first be run through hot 
water. After the cloth has been plaited down, 
close up the kier, open up the valves and let 
the steam blow through for about 15 minutes. 
This will wet down the goods and press out 
the air. Then fill up the kier by putting the 
hose to the waste pipe. See that the water 
does not get below the surface of the goods 
while they are boiling. 

All knit goods require alK)ut 2 1/2 hours 
boiling at 5 pounds pressure. When the goods 
have l)een boiling this length of time, let the 
pressure down and flush kier before drawing 
off the liquor. This method will result in even 
work, if the kier and water is clean. If the 
boiling is to be done in an open kettle the 
water should be heated to 140° F. before the 
goods are put in. 

In place of caustic a good alkali will do 
better work and make the goods softer. Get 
a good, clean bottom and the work will be 
satisfactory. Devon. 

The brown spots complained of are no 
doubt due to uneven penetration of the boil- 



66 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

ing liquor. To remedy this trouble I would 
suggest dampening the goods and then boiling 
in an ordinary wooden kier. Care should be 
exercised in packing the goods uniformly in 
the kier. The latter is an important point. 
11 the goods are packed solid in some por- 
tions and very light in others the liquor will 
naturally circulate more freely where the least 
resistance is offered. To eliminate trouble of 
this nature it is frequently found necessary to 
install an iron pressure kier. Palmetto. 



Spots on Knit Goods 

I am enclosing a piece of knitted fal)ric. 
We are having considerable trouble with black 
specks which >ou will notice on the goods. 
Kindly tell us what is the cause of the diffi- 
culty. Claxton (2076). 

The spots on the sample of knit goods sub- 
mitted have the appearance of iron spots, and 
I find that soap and water will take them out. 
This indicates that they are not caused by 
iron from the kier, otherwise soap and water 
would have no effect on them. They are evi- 
aently made by black oil or dirty water. It is 
difficult to say just what does cause them, as 
"Claxton" does not say where they are first 
noticed, whether after the goods are taken 
from the kier, or after being finished. 

I was in charge of a plant a few years ago 
when spots began to appear on the goods. 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 67 

Some were small and some large and in some 

places the spots appeared as if a black liquor 
had been put on with a fine spray. We 
w^atched batch after batch and could not 
locate the cause of the spots. We finally con- 
centrated all of our attention on the extractor, 
and finally found the cause by accident. The 
man who did the oiling was using too much 
oil, which was squirting out and occasionally 
flying on the goods. 

I had the same trouble in another plant 
where I worked and we spent a lot of time 
looking- for the cause. Finally it was discov- 
ered that a bearing under one of the washers 
had worn down and was a little loose. When 
the machine was running it would give a 
slight jump every little while and the dirty 
water and oil would squirt on to the goods. 
Soap and warm water with a little rubbing 
would remove the spots. Any of the above 
causes might apply in "Claxton's" case, or 
the spots may come from some overhead 
bearing. 

The kiers may not be whitewashed enough. 
Is a wash used to take the scale off the boiler? 
Is there a return system in the plant that 
carries the exhaust from the engines and 
machines back to the boiler, taking along 
with it all kinds of oil and grease that would 
pass through the strainers and get into the 
boilers to be returned with the live steam and 



68 KiMT GOODS DYEING 

deposited on the goods in the kier? The 
trouble can be caused in any of these ways. 
First of all, watch the kier, as no doubt the 
trouble is caused there. Delco. 

The trouble appears to be caused by oil 
dropping from the holes in the bed plate to 
the rollers or plate underneath, spattering or 
spreading on the rollers, and coming in con- 
tact with the cloth there. The spots might 
come from the gears if they have no high 
guard. These causes would arise on a ma- 
chine where the cloth stands still. If the 
cloth goes around, the cause may be too much 
oil on the take-up rocker and cams, as it 
would spatter all the way around, there being 
nothing to protect the cloth beneath. Exam- 
ine the hangers above the extractors. Wrap 
the hangers with rags to soak up the oil and 
keep the take-up rollers clean. Trenton. 



Softener for Cotton Yarn 

We are boiling 2/ 26s cotton yarn in an open 
kier for eight hours. After washing, liming 
and scouring, we soap and blue the yarn and 
then extract it. What softener should be used 
to make this yarn feel less harsh, and should 
it be used in the soaping? Warwick (1020). 

Softeners are generally used in the soaping. 
Any good softener would do the work. Most 
bleachers use no other softener but a good 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 69 

soap, or they add to the soda liquor some 
form of soluble oil, such as monopole soap, 
Turkey red oil, etc. This helps to cleanse and 
soften the yarn. The yarn can be made to 
feel less harsh if carbonate of soda is used 
instead of caustic soda in the boil, or by us- 
ing sulphurous acid or bisulphate of soda, in- 
stead of sulphuric acid. Wash the yarn well, 
especially' after using the acid. Amazon. 



Shrinkage in Dyeing and Bleaching Cotton 
and Worsted Yarns 

Can 5'ou give me some information as to 
what the actual results have been in loss of 
weight in dyeing and bleaching cotton and 
worsted yarns? Should there, if the proper 
dyeing process is used, be any loss in the 
weight of cotton? Champlain (2155). 

In the ordinary process of bleaching when 
the yarns are put up in five-pound bundles, it 
is the custom to allow a surplus of from 8 to 
28 per cent, overweight, each per cent, being 
called a "point". This is the weight I used to 
allow in our method of bleaching, and this 
rule was arrived at after years of experience. 
Of course, the quality of the stock, kind of 
yarn, color to be dyed, and the amount of 
handling the goods have to be put through in 
the process have to be taken into considera- 
tion. A short staple yarn will show a greater 
percentage of loss than a long staple yarn; a 



70 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

fine twisted yarn will not show the same loss 
as a coarse yarn. The reason for this is that 
a fine twisted yarn has more turns to the inch 
than a coarse yarn, the fiber being held more 
firmly in place and there is less waste in the 
process. 

The same is true of yarn to be dyed. If the 
goods are to be dyed a light shade they re- 
quire more bleaching, thus resulting in more 
less than would be the case in a yarn requir- 
ing a dark shade. Some of your readers may 
say, Yes, but what about the weight of the 
dye that is put in the bath? Very little 
weight is imparted to the goods from the pas- 
sage through the dye bath. If the yarns are 
not handled very carefully in the process a 
considerable difference will be found between 
the goods being handled roughly and care- 
fully. 

Most modern plants are equipped with 
apparatus for determining the loss during 
bleaching, the loss or gain in dyeing, the 
breaking strength in the grey, and the break- 
ing strength of the yarn after dyeing and 
bleaching. I was employed in a plant where 
we had to check each batch that went 
through, not all the batch, but select at ran- 
dom one bundle and test it. If there was too 
much variation from the last test of the same 
kind and quality we would test another bun- 
dle to see if the variation was the same. A 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 7I 

few tests that I made were as follows: In 
some bundles of 2 ply 8s, 12s and 16s we 
found a loss of from 7 to 15 points (7 to 15 
per cent.). Some even lost as much as 23 
points. Occasionally we would find a bundle 
that would be a little heavy. Upon opening 
it we generally found it to contain too much 
moisture. When thoroughly dried out it 
would show the usual percentage of loss. 

On the finer qualities tested, made from 
long staple cotton, 35s to 50s yarns, we did 
not get the same variation, nor did they show 
the same amount of loss as the lower quali- 
ties. They rarely exceeded a loss of 12 points, 
varying from 2 to 7 points. I would suggest 
the weighing of say two bundles in the grey, 
tag them and after going through the process, 
examine them to determine the exact percent- 
age of loss. Alpha. 

Cotton generally loses up to 7 per cent, of 
its weight, but this figure is not to be taken 
as applying to all cottons, some of which lose 
more than others. Unbleached cotton seldom 
loses during dyeing more than 3 or 4 per 
cent, of its actual weight, but this is offset by 
a certain quantity of color that is taken up 
from the dye bath. 

Few results are recorded giving the exact 
figures of losses, and those that are made 



"JT. KNIT GOODS DYEING 

public are somewhat unreliable because they 
do not allow for the normal content of mois- 
ture contained in the goods. 

Worsted loses only the natural suint that is 
normal to the wool, and the oils that are 
added to it during the manufacturing process, 
and which should be all removed by the 
scouring. During dyeing wool seldom loses in 
weight if it has been properly scoured. 

Berwick. 



In the dyeing of cotton yarns which have 
not been bleached the loss in weight will de- 
pend considerably on the nature and class of 
dyestuff employed. In the case of the usual 
substantive cotton colors there will be a loss 
in weight of from 1 to 4 per cent. This is 
explained by the fact that in the boiling-out. 
and wetting-out of the cotton yarn a good 
deal of the adhering wax and resinous mat- 
ters on the fiber is removed. In the general 
run of cotton yarns this, if completely re- 
moved, would amount to about 5 per cent, in 
weight. As a rule, however, in the mere dye- 
ing of raw cotton yarns the removal of these 
matters is incomplete, and furthermore there 
is; a slight accession of weight due to the 
amount of dyestuff which is taken up by the 
fiber, together with some of the salt used *n 
the dye bath. It is seldom, however, that the 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 73 

loss in weight of dyeing raw cotton amounts 
to more than 4 per cent. 

Naturally it can be understood that a heavy 
dyed color should cause less loss in weight 
than a light tint, as the amount of dyestutt 
taken up is far different. In dyeing a heavy 
shade, especially black on cotton, the hber 
may absorb 2 or 3 per cent, of its weight o 
dyestuff; whereas in dyeing light shades and 
delicate tints only one-tenth of the per cent, 
of dyestuff may be absorbed. This weight ot 
absorbed dyestuff subtracted from the general 
loss in weight due to the removal of the nat- 
ural impurities in the fiber by the boiling 
water will give the actual loss of weight. 

In the case of bleached yarns the loss will 
depend to a considerable extent on the degree 
of bleaching. In the case of a bleach in- 
tended for white goods where a very thorough 
boiling-out and bleaching operation must be 
carried out, the loss will be from 5 to 7 per 
cent This is frequently cut down somewhat 
in the case of cotton already bleached by 
softening the yarn. In such a case the fiber 
will take up a small amount of softener, 
which includes various vegetable oils and 
soaps, and consequently the apparent loss in 
weight is not as high as if it were bleached 
without the use of the softener. This, how- 
ever is not very large and is seldom more 
than 1 per cent, of the weight of the cotton. 



74 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

In the case of cotton cloth the weight of 
the finished article will depend very largely, 
of course, on the degree and character of fin- 
ishing materials and stiffening agents added 
to the cloth after bleaching. If, however, the 
pure fiber alone is taken as a basis, the loss 
of weight in bleaching will be about 5 per 
cent. It must be borne in mind that calcula- 
tions on such a basis are seldom feasible in 
the case of cloth, owing to the fact that in 
the weaving of the cloth the warp yarns are 
generally dressed or sized to a considerable 
degree with starch or other materials so that 
the weight of the fiber has 'been changed. In 
the subsequent boiling-out and bleaching op- 
erations these dressing and sizing ingredients 
are removed from the cloth and consequently 
the pure unfinished bleached cloth might 
show a very considerable loss in weight, much 
more than would be represented by the actual 
loss due to the removal of the natural impuri- 
ties on the fiber. 

In dyeing cotton yarns with other than the 
substantive dyestuffs there may be times when 
instead of a loss in weight there is an actual 
gain experienced. This is sometimes true of 
dyeing sulphur blacks or other sulphur colors 
on cotton where enough of the dyestuff is 
taken up by the fiber to overbalance the loss 
caused by the removal of the waxy and resin- 
ous matters in the fiber. Under such condi- 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 75 

tions there may be an increase in weight of 
the dyed goods to as much as 4 or 5 per cent. 
Also in the case of basic dyes on cotton there 
may be an increase in weight where tannin- 
antimony or tannin-iron mordant is employed 
in connection with the actual coloring matter. 
If heavy shades are used there will sometimes 
be an increase in weight instead of a loss and 
even under ordinary circumstances where 
medium or even light shades are employed 
there will seldom be an actual loss of weight 
experienced in the dyeing. This is due to the 
fact that the addition of the tannin and 
metallic salt, together with the quantity of 
dyestuff absorbed, is sufficient to counterbal- 
ance the loss of the weight due to the removal 
of the natural impurities on the fiber. 

With worsted yarns the loss in weight ex- 
perienced by dyeing and bleaching will vary 
widely, depending on the amount of oil and 
impurities present in the worsted yarn. In 
the case of Bradford spun worsted yarn there 
may be a loss experienced in scouring the yarn 
which will amount to as much as 6 to 10 per 
cent. This loss represents the oil emulsion 
which is used for the purpose of lubricating 
the fibers in the spinning operations, and also 
includes the miscellaneous dirt and impurities 
collected by the fiber during its process 
through the various manufacturing opera- 



76 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

tions. Some worsted yarns of a high class 
are very clean and about the only loss ex- 
perienced in the scouring is that due to the 
oils which have been added. In the case of 
French spun worsted yarn there is little or no 
oil added to facilitate the spinning operation. 
Consequently the loss in scouring will seldom 
be more than 2 to 4 per cent. 

Prom these losses in scouring must be de- 
ducted the weight added to the yarn in dyeing 
by the absorption of the various mordants 
and dyes which may be employed. In the 
case of acid colors, the amount of absorption 
of course will naturally depend on the depth 
of shade desired. Heavy shades may take up 
as much as 2 to 3 per cent, in weight of dye- 
stuff and this varies down to a very small 
increase in the case of light shades. Where 
the yarn is mordanted with chrome or other 
metallic salts there is a further addition of 
weight amounting to as much as 1 to 2 per 
cent. No general rule of loss in weight can 
be given under these circumstances without 
' knowing the particular conditions of opera- 
tion, but it may be stated as a general fact 
that worsted yarns will lose from 2 to 6 per 
cent, in dyeing. This, of course, including the 
loss of scouring, which operation must natur- 
ally precede the dyeing. J. M. Matthews. 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 'J'J 

Weighting Knit Goods in Finishing 

I enclose sample of faljric knit on a plain 
circular knitting machine and bleached by the 
chloride of lime process. Please give me some 
information regarding the weighting of the 
fabric. Is it possible to put in 1/4 or 3/8 to 
1/2 pound in these goods per dozen and not 
have it show in the goods when finished or 
dust out in the process of manufacture? One 
firm a few years ago put on the market a so- 
lution for weighting underwear, but it was not 
a success and I would like to get some infor- 
mation whereby I can weight this fabric suc- 
cessfully. Whatever weighting material is put 
into the goods would have to be a material 
that would not turn dark or yellow after the 
goods had stood for a while. Macon (2061). 

Our English correspondent replies as fol- 
lows: 

The inquiry does not disclose the percent- 
age of weight that it is desired to add, but in- 
ferentlally the percentage is low. In that 
case the possible gain from weighting is little 
and it is clear that any treatment used must 
be cheap. Whether the gain is worth the 
trouble and the risk is for the inquirer to 
judge. 

Presumably such a sizing as would be use- 
ful in weaving would be out of place in a knit 
fabric in which bulkiness is a desirable fea- 
ture and it would seem to be simplest to add 
a,ny weighting compound to the garment after 
bleaching and washing and before drying. 



78 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

The obvious measure is to use some de- 
liquescent salt to attract and retain moisture 
in the garment, but the presence of moisture 
invites the risk of mildew and necessitates the 
use of some antiseptic to counter that risk. 
There are objections to the use of most of the 
mineral salts that could be mentioned. Nearly 
all of them are irritants of the skin and some 
are poisonous. Magnesium chloride is named 
by an eminent chemical firm as the most suit- 
able and it will not be difficult or expensive 
to make experiments with this. Glycerine is 
probably too expensive for use. 

The antiseptics which might be employed 
are carbolic acid, salicylic acid or thymol. 
The first-named has a pungent smell to which 
objection might be taken and of course all of 
them add to the expense. It is possible that 
if experiments were undertaken by sizing 
chemists that new light would be gained and 
for this purpose a yard or two of fabric 
should be sent. 

Whether it is to the advantage of the trade 
to introduce weighted fabrics is a separate 
question. In some businesses the introduction 
cf artificial loading has been anything but a 
blessing. Obviously nobody who has found a 
trustworthy means of loading is going to rest 
content with saving 4 to 8 ozs. per dozen gar- 
ments, and excessive loading means trouble 
more or less for everybody. Weighting has 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 79 

been a curse to the European silk trade, in 
which 1 pound of silk conies back from the 
dyer weighing anything between 2 to 5 
pounds. Yorkshire worsted dyers and finish- 
ers had to enter into a solemn compact (not 
too well kept) to refuse to load worsted for 
anybody. 

Woven cottons can be adduced as an in- 
stance to the contrary, but in them the load- 
ing very often contributes towards the lus- 
trous effect that is desired. Hygenically, it is 
clear that nothing is to be said in favor of 
putting mineral salts and water into under- 
wear and knitters will probably regret the day 
that weighting begins. Wessex. 



Comparative Fastness of Dyeing Wool and 
Cotton 

I would like to have your opinion as to the 
comparative fastness of black and other colors 
on cotton and wool. I have been informed 
that it is not possible to get a color on cotton 
as fast to light as on wool. Canton (2189). 

The idea that a color on cotton cannot be 
as fast to light as when dyed on wool would 
seem to arise from the fact that the cotton 
fiber has much less affinity for coloring mat- 
ter than the wool fiber. In cotton dyeing 
fastness to washing in the majority of cases 
is at least as important as fastness to light. 
It seems to be agreed upon that indigo is not 



80 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

as fast on cotton as on wool, but what red on 
wool is as fast as Turkey red on cotton? 

Knecht, Rawson and Loewenthal, in their 
•'Manual of Dyeing," classify dyes in four 
degrees of fastness: Fast, fairly fast, moder- 
ately fast, and not fast. They instance as fast, 
three wool dyes only, Indigo (on wool). An- 
thracene Brown and Tartrazine, but several 
cotton d^es, Turkey Red, Aniline Black, the 
Sulphide Blacks and Indanthrene. Cotton, 
therefore, has the vote from this point of 
view. 

As a matter of fact the sulphide blacks may 
be looked upon as having extraordinary all 
round properties of fastness, with, of course, 
the exception of resistance to chlorine, and 
are at least as fast to light as a woaded log- 
wood black. 

The practical question seems to be whether 
the wool and cotton in unions can be dyed 
with colors of a good and equal fastness to 
light. There does not seem to be much diffi- 
culty in this respect, especially with the 
blacks and na\.\' blues. It is not uncommon 
to see an old suit in which the woolen or 
worsted has turned rusty, while the cotton 
shows little alteration. 

If the question was which fiber could be 
dyed with the most fugitive colors, there is 
little doubt about it. Some of the direct cot- 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 8l 

ton colors and basics will show a change in a 
few hours of direct sunlight and vanish in a 
week or two of exposure. It Would be im- 
possible to free wool wholly of its color by 
exposure to the sun, however dyed. 

Culebra. 



Water Required for a Bleachery and Dye 
House 

How much water is required to operate a 
bleachery and dye house? Buxton (1162). 

It would be difficult to state the exact 
amount of water required to operate a bleach- 
ery, or a bleachery and dye house, on account 
of the amount of waste for washing down 
purposes. 

The amount would also vary according to 
the process used and the different methods 
employed in bleaching piece goods, and 
bleaching and dyeing yarns or raw stock. 
For a bleachery producing piece goods, and 
equipped to handle from 30,000 to 3 5,000 
pounds of piece goods per week, with the fol- 
lowing machines: Two large washing ma- 
chines with two three-inch valves each, two 
squeezers with two two-inch valves each, one 
lime machine with one two-inch ^•alve. and 
four kiers for boiling purposes, the quantity 
of water required would be from 800 to 1,000 
gallons per minute. These figures are based 



82 KxXIT GOODS DYEING 

on the assumption that there will be a steady 
flow of water passing through the machines 
during the • washing-out process, which is 
necessary in the production of piece goods, 
besides supplying the tinishing end with water 
at the same time. It is essential that the 
water used for finishing the goods should be 
perfectly clear. 

A small dye house working on yarns and 
raw stock would not require as much water 
as a bleachery working on piece goods. Most 
of the washing is done in the closed machine, 
then run off and the machine filled up again 
until a thorough wash is obtained, instead of 
having a steady flow of water passing through 
the machine as in the process for piece goods. 

A small bleaching and dyeing plant for 
yarns and raw stock equipped to produce from 
2,000 to 2,500 pounds per day would require 
from 2,000 to 2,500 gallons of water per hour 
on an average day's work. The quantity re- 
auired would vary according to the methods 
employed and the process required. A few 
years ago I was in charge of a plant produc- 
ing 60,000 to 65,000 pounds of piece goods per 
week, with three large washers, three squeez- 
ers, one lime machine and six kiers. For this 
plant we had a rotary pump lifting 1,800 gal- 
lons of water per minute and we did not have 
any too much; of course it supplied the finish- 
ing end as well as the bleachery. 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 83 

I would advise having too much water 
rather than not enough and run the risk of 
having tender goods through not being thor- 
oughly washed. Delco. 



Sulphur Smell on Goods after Bleaching 

Can you inform me what will take the sul- 
phur smell out of knit goods after the goods 
have been sulphur bleached? Washing seems 
to darken the goods. Claxton (1991). 

I have had a great deal of trouble with sul- 
phur bleached goods and have tried a num- 
ber of remedies, but found the following to 
be the best: Wash off with 3 per cent, of sul- 
phuric acid with plenty of cold water. This 
will brighten the goods and free them from 
the sulphur smell. Dryden. 



Oxidized Black on Hosiery 

What will give an oxidized black on hosiery 
a good bluish cast and a soft feel? Is there 
anything in sulphur black that will make the 
goods tender after they lie in boxes for some 
time? Lenox (1962). 

To produce an oxidized black on hosiery, 
and to have a blue tone, requires that the 
dyer should use a grade of aniline oil or ani- 
line salts possessing the property when dyed 
of giving a black which has such a blue tone. 
As dyers are not, as a rule, competent to 
make the exact chemical test to determine the 



84 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

shade giving value of a sample of either oils 
or salts before using, it devolves upon them to 
top off their dyeings with either a blue or 
blue shade of violet to give the desired shade, 
but it is needless to remark that this topping 
only remains until the hosiery is vi^ashed for 
the first time, when it is completely removed. 

Fast black dyeing requires more experience 
than any other branch of the trade, and it is 
useless to give a formula with the expectation 
that it will prove a success the first time it is 
tried. However, the following formula in 
daily use in a large mill doing high class 
work should prove of interest. 

Prepare a stock solution as follows: 

Aniline Salt ll>s. 130 

Acetate of Copper lbs. 6 

Muriate of Ammonia lbs. 12 

Bluestone lbs. 40 

Chlorate of Potash lbs. 30 

Dissolve completely, and dilute to 14° Tw. 

Put the stockings to be dyed in the tom- 
tom, . cover with the stock dye solution, and 
pound for 1 hour, then whiz for three- 
quarters of an hour (running the whizzed 
liquor back to the stock tank). Give the 
stockings a run for 3 hours at 80° to 90° F. 
in the revolving cages, when they should 
change to a dark green. Keep your eye on 
the temperature, for it is during the oxidizing 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 85 

in the cages that any injury will be done. 
Now remove to the ageing room and spread 
out over night, allowing free access of air, 
and in the morning put through a bath with 
5 per cent, of bichromate for 30 to 40 min- 
utes. Then wash well, extract and board. 

A sol't feel is always imparted ])y gi\"ing a 
light soap treatment with the last rinse. Some 
"softeners" are only ordinary soft soaps. 

Sulphur blacks on cotton will not become 
tender if the goods, after dyeing, are thor- 
oughly rinsed. To the last wash water add 6 
ounces of acetate of soda per 10 gallons. Do 
rot wash afterwards. This treatment will 
effectively prevent the tendering of cotton ho- 
siery or other material dyed with the sulphur 
blacks. Beta Napthol. 

In order to obtain the bluish cast to oxi- 
dized aniline black, resort is often made to a 
topping with a minute quantity of methylene 
blue. This dyestuff is usually applied at the 
same time with the softener. The softener 
may consist of one of the proprietary cotton 
softeners of good grade or may consist of olive 
oil emulsified with a little soda ash and soap. 
About 2 per cent, of olive oil on the weight 
of the goods may be used, with 1 per cent, of 
soda ash and 1 per cent, of olive oil chip soap. 
To this bath may be added sufficient methy- 
lene blue, well dissolved, to give the desired 



86 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

bluish cast to the black. The treatment in 
this bath may be carried out lukewarm. 

Regarding the tendering of goods dyed with 
sulphur black. There has been a great deal 
of discussion ever since the sulphur blacks 
have come to be so largely used regarding the 
cause of the tendering or weakening of cotton 
fabrics which have been dyed with this color. 
The most conclusive researches on this point 
have led to the opinion that the tendering 
effect is due to the formation of sulphuric 
acid arising from the oxidation of the free 
sulphur which is to be found in the majority 
of sulphur blacks on the market. This sul- 
phuric acid does not seem to originate from 
the sulphide of soda which is used in the dye- 
ing process. 

Sulphur blacks are of more or less unknown 
composition and they probably consist of a 
mixture of different substances, among which 
are free sulphur and bodies which on ageing 
in the air decompose to yield free sulphur. 
This sulphur in the presence of air and mois- 
ture gradually tends to form small quantities 
of sulphuric acid and this gradually rots the 
fiber. 

To avoid the tendering action of sulphur 
black dyed material, many suggestions have 
been made, both by the manufacturers of dye- 
stuffs and by chemists independently. Treat- 
ment with sodium acetate after dyeing has 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 87 

been suggested. Also a scouring in a weak 
soap bath. Also a treatment with a weak 
bath of sodium sulphide has been suggested, 
the idea in this latter case being to remove 
the sulphur compounds which appear to be 
soluble in the sodium sulphide. If the sodium 
sulphide treatment is resorted to, it should be 
given about 12 hours after the material has 
been dyed, that is to say, the material, after 
dyeing and washing with water, is allowed to 
stand over night and is then run through a 
bath containing about 3 per cent, of sodium 
sulphide using the bath at a lukewarm tem- 
perature, then rinsing and drying. 

Another process for the prevention of the 
tendering, which has been suggested of recent 
years, is the precipitation on the fiber of cal- 
cium tannate. This is brought about by giv- 
ing the dyed goods first a bath of tannic acid 
or sumach extract, using about 5 per cent, of 
sumach or 2 per cent, of tannic acid on the 
weight of the goods and then following this 
treatment with a bath containing about 5 per 
cent, of milk of lime. The tannic acid ab- 
sorbed by the cotton will combine with the 
lime in the second bath and cause an in- 
soluble precipitate of calcium tannate to be 
formed in the fiber. This calcium tannate is 
not removed from the goods by washing, as is 
the case with sodium acetate, and if there is 
any free sulphuric acid formed in the goods 



88 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

subsequently it will immediately combine with 
the calcium tannate, becoming neutralized 
thereby and thus the tendering effect is pre- 
vented. 

The treatment with sodium acetate hds 
really this same idea in view, that is to say, 
it was to serve the purpose of neutralizing the 
free sulphuric acid by interaction between the 
acid and the sodium acetate resulting in the 
formation of sodium sulphate or Glauber 
salts and free acetic acid which, being vola- 
tile, soon passes away and does no injury to 
the cotton. As already pointed out, however, 
the defect in the use of sodium acetate as an 
after-treatment lies in the fact that this salt 
is readily soluble in water and while it may 
serve its purpose when the goods are being 
stored before sale, nevertheless the first wash- 
ing such goods receive will, of course, remove 
all of the sodium acetate and then it is pos- 
sible that the tendering effect may subse- 
quently become evident. Hertford. 



Bleaching Cotton Yarns 

Please give me some information on the 
bleaching of Sea Island. Egyptian and peeler 
cctton yarns for knit goods. Also the best 
method of boiling out warp chains for mer- 
cerizing, or the treatment that will give the 
yarn the highest luster. Bleacher (197.5). 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 89 

This is a rather difficult question to answer, 
as there are so many different ways of ob- 
taining the results desired. The method that 
is in general use is the caustic boil, chlorine 
bleach, either chloride of lime or the new 
liquid produced by the electrolyzer which is 
saining popularity every year, with acid as a 
neutralizer. This is used for the bleaching 
of the material. The system of handling is 
another matter. Some prefer to boil in the 
bundle, in either open kiers or high pressure 
kiers, the high pressure kiers being preferable 
for a caustic bleach. Some boil off in the 
bundle in the kier, and then the goods are 
transferred to a washing machine where they 
are bleached and washed and soured with 
removing. 

We will suppose "Bleacher" is to bleach a 
batch of 2,000 lbs. of yarn in the bundle. To 
begin with the goods are put in a kier, each 
layer being evenly pressed down, the joints 
being broken as much as possible and each 
layer saturated thoroughly until they are all 
in the kier. A liquor of caustic soda is made 
with 2 to 4 per cent, of caustic based on the 
weight of the goods in the batch and varjang 
with the quality of the yarn, a fine yarn not 
requiring as much as a coarse yarn. Allow- 
ance is also made for the twist. If it is a 
soft twist it will not require as much as a 



90 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

hard twist. Enough liquor is made to cover 
the goods. They are then boiled from 6 to 9 
hours as the case may be. 

If a good white is desired and the goods 
are to be finished soft, they should be boiled 
G hours, then washed in the kier, next treated 
with a fresh liquor of 2 per cent, soda ash 
and then boiled again for 3 or 4 hours. Then 
wash off and bleach, using the bleach liquor 
at 1/2° Tw. at the strongest. Then wash off 
and neutralize with acid, care being taken 
not to have either of the liaths tod strong. 
After washing the goods off and extracting 
they are ready for drying. The above process 
is all right if the goods are carefully watched 
at boiling. Do not use any soap or softener 
in the boil, nor have the chemic too strong 
and then a strong acid will not be necessary 
to neutralize the bleach. 



Dyeing" Mercerized Cotton to Stand Cross- 
Dyeing 

We have been trying to get a pink and blue 
mercerized cotton that will stand dyeing and 
come out bright and near the same color. We 
bought developed colors and have been very 
careful about dyeing, but the colors change so 
much that they are no good. We color an 
acid black in a formic acid bath and we desire 
a pink and blue that will stand cross dyeing 
for forty minutes in this bath. The colors 
that we have tried so far have all come off 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING QI 

during- the dyeing process. Will you kindly 
tell us how to overcome this? 

Buxton (1986). 

Two considerations are necessary to make a 
good job of cotton dyeing to stand cross-dye- 
ing with acid colors. First, the cotton dyes 
must be applied by a process that is capable 
of producing fast colors; second, the cross- 
dyeing bath must be made up with dye that 
will not stain the previously dyed cotton. 

For pinks on cotton, trj- Diamine Rose B D 
Extra or G D or Direct Rose T dyed in the 
usual manner as for direct colors. Irisamine 
G or Rosazeine 6 G are also used for this 
purpose, dyed on tannin and antimony salt 
mordant, and after dyeing again passed 
through the tannin and antimony salt baths. 
All the above colors resist formic acids in the 
cross-dye bath. 

For blues, try New Methylene Blue G G or 
N, dyed exactly as for Irisamine above men- 
tioned. 

To dye cotton for cross-dyeing, especially 
when mordanting with tannin, giye plenty of 
time, — say, over night, and fix thoroughly' in 
the antimony salt bath. Time is a very im- 
portant factor. In selecting the acid black, it 
is always best to decide after making a few 
trials on a laboratory scale, and even then 
proceeding with caution with the first set of 
pieces in the dye house. Beta-Naphthol. 



92 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

Prom this inquiry it appears that "Dyer" 
desires to obtain a pink and blue color on 
mercerized cotton which is fast to cross-dye- 
ing, the cross-dye being an acid black em- 
ployed in a bath containing formic acid. 

In this case, for the blue it would be pos- 
sible to use a number of sulphur blues of the 
various brands at present on the market; the 
exact selection, of course, would depend on 
the particular shade of blue desired. It 
would also be possible to obtain a cross-dye 
blue by using some of the basic blue dyes 
applied on a mordant of tannin and anti- 
mony; the exact dyestuff to be employed also 
in this case would depend on the shade de- 
sired. The problem of getting a pink color 
on mercerized cotton, fast to cross-dyeing, is 
more diflicult, especially if it is desired to have 
a pink of a very clear and bright tone. The 
sulphur colors in such a case would not be 
applicable, as they would not yield a pink of 
sufficiently bright a hue, and the basic colors 
which are at command for this purpose are 
not especially fast to cross-dyeing. However, 
it would be possible to employ some of the 
more recent vat colors for this purpose. The 
indanthrene, thio-indigo colors, and helindone 
colors would be suitable for this purpose. It 
might also be said that these vat colors could 
be used for the production of cross-dyed blue 
desired. 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 93 

It must be borne in mind, however, that 
rhe acid blacli which is used for the cross- 
dyeing of the wool will more or less affect 
and stain the colors on the mercerized cotton. 
This effect would probably be very little no- 
ticed in the case of the blue color, especially 
if this color were of a dark blue, but, of 
course, the slightest stain of the black would 
make itself very apparent in the pink color. 
There are various acid blacks, of course, and 
some of them would naturally have a greater 
effect in this way than others and it would 
be a matter of some investigation by the dyer 
to fix upon a particular acid black which 
would give him the proper shade on his wool 
and also the minimum staining effect on the 
pink dyed cotton. J- M. Matthews. 

Stamping Hosiery 

Can you give me any information regarding 
stamping hosiery so as to get a clear, sharp 
impression like that on sample enclosed? 

Thornton (1261). 

Apparently the stamp used is one of the 
usual ones in which the letters are formed 
out of strip brass set in a base or handle of 
wood and the ink appears to be a water-paste 
compound. 

Part of the problem of clear stamping con- 
sists in getting an equal distribution of the 
ink or paste used so that it may be picked up 



94 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

evenly by the stamp and transferred uni- 
formly to the fabric. Where a water paste 
is employed it is best to use a cloth pad on 
which to ink the stamp. With a little care 
the pad can be uniformly covered. All that 
can be then done is to apply the stamp with 
firm and equal pressure while the fabric is 
laid on a plane and equal surface. 

It does not follow, however, that the im- 
pression will be as white and solid as could 
be desired. There are difficulties which letter 
press printers experience in getting a good 
white impression upon a dark background and 
these present themselves in stamping hosiery. 
The stamp fails to carry a sufficient body of 
dense, opaque white and a more or less grey, 
ragged and illegible impression is the result. 
To obtain a good white mark, a quantity of 
color has to be laid down on the fabric, and 
in general watery mixtures are not the best 
for this purpose. They are perhaps the sim- 
plest and cheapest to use and they are most 
readily removed from the garment, but in 
the nature of the case they are not the strong- 
est coloring agents. 

The practical alternative to a water mix- 
ture is an oil mixture and the most useful of 
these is printer's ink or something of a sim- 
ilar sort. White inks are made for printers' 
use containing a great body of opaque white 
pigment expressly for use in printing upon 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 95 

dark grounds. These, for use in stamping 
cloth or hosiery, will probably need thinning 
with printer's varnish or boiled linseed oil. 
The oil medium in which the color is ground 
is of considerable tenacity and hence able to 
carry more pigment than pastes made with 
water. It cannot be used upon a cloth pad, 
but may be distributed sparingly upon a rub- 
ber one. Either by means of a squeeges 
roller or an inking ball it can be distributed 
evenly oVer the pad so that the stamp gets 
its proper quota. 

The impression, although not indelible, does 
not so easily rub ofC as one that is attached 
simply by gums or glue. It may be advisable 
to use with such marking inks a deeply en- 
graved metal stamp rather than a built stamp 
of brass strip. Regent. 

The process of stamping by decalcomania 
transfer has recently been adopted by a num- 
ber of hosiery manufacturers w^ith much sat- 
isfaction. The lettering or design is clean cut 
and the brilliant gold effect is very attractive. 



Preparing Yarn for Bleaching 

What is the proper way to prepare skein 
yarn for boiling in a kier under pressure, the 
kier holding 1,200 pounds, and how much 
caustic soda should be used? 

Mitchell (1258). 

There are several different methods of pre- 
paring skein yarn for bleaching, but the one 



96 KNIT GOODS DYEING 

generally used is the old way of bleaching 
yarn, in five-pound bundles. The latest 
method is what is called the link and chain, 
which consists in making the skeins in the 
form of a chain and running them into the 
kier like a long rope, in the same manner 
that piece goods are run in the bleaching 
process. The latter method, however, would 
require different machinery from that used 
for the bundle method. 

I presume "Mitchell" is not equipped for 
the chain process, and I will therefore de- 
scribe the process used for bleaching in the 
bundle. Pack the bundles, each weighing five 
pounds, into the kier, and saturate the layer 
thoroughly with water, then put in the next 
layer, placing the bundles even, but not too 
tight, in the kier, laying the second layer 
iicross the joints of the first layer, and so on, 
crossing the joints of each layer until the full 
weight is in the kier. Saturate each layer 
with water, leaving the outlet valve open to 
allow the surplus water to drain off the goods. 

When the kier is evenly packed and the 
yarn saturated, close the outlet valve and mix 
a solution of 2 to 8 per cent, caustic soda, 2 
per cent, of soda ash and 1 to 2 per cent, of 
soap or bleaching paste. Dissolve in enough 
water to cover the goods in the kier. If the 
yarn is coarse, boil the goods for about eight 
hours at fifteen pounds' pressure; if the yarn 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 97 

is fine reduce the percentage of caustic soda 
ash, but give the same length of time in the 
boil. Or use the same mixture and boil only 
s«x hours at fifteen pounds' pressure. It is 
preferable to use a smaller quantity of caustic 
and ash and boil for a longer period. 
'Mitchell" should consider whether the yarn 
ip fine or coarse, hard or soft twisted, as a 
soft twisted yarn always takes less than a 
hard twisted one. 

I think that "Mitchell" has not been boiling 
his goods long enough, and that the caustic 
used is too strong. Uneven packing in the 
kier will often produce poor results. If a 
g-ood white is desired I would advise using a 
mixture of 2 pe'r cent soda ash with the 
chemic powder or liquor, whichever is used. 
This mixture brightens the white and softens 
the yarn. If these instructions are carefully 
followed the yarns produced will have a fine, 
soft feel. Dulcimer. 



Removing Oil Spots Before Dyeing and 
Bleaching 

I enclose one tan stocking with an oil spot 
on it, and two bleached stockings showing a 
black spot and oil spots. The tan hose is dye* 
with oil, dyestuffs and salt at a starting tem- 
perature near to the boiling point. The white 
hose is boiled out in 6 per cent, solution of 



98 KMT GOODS DYEING 

caustic soda under pressure and rinsed thor- 
oughly, then bleached by the lime process. 

Clayton (2024). 

The oil spots in the sample of hosiery sub- 
mitted are caused by the use of too much oil 
in oiling the machine. The black oil spot 
comes from the bottom of the stud of the dial 
of the machine. The fact that the oil spots 
did not come out in the scouring before dye- 
ing or bleaching shows that the oil used is 
not stainless. The remedy is to use vaseline, 
not oil, for lubricating the machine. In using 
vaseline where oil has previously been used, 
the needle cylinder and dial should first be 
thoroughly cleaned with benzine. Then after 
the cylinders are replaced the vaseline is 
applied with the fingers on the cams in the 
cam ring. As vaseline is a good lul)ricant a 
machine thus greased will last at least a week. 

Oil must not be applied to parts where 
vaseline has been used, otherwise the result 
will be as bad as if the oil alone had been 
used. Where vaseline cannot be applied, a 
stainless oil should be used, so that if by acci- 
dent it should get on the hosiery it will come 
cut in the scouring previous to dyeing or 
])leaching. Oil and needle marks can be re- 
moved from hosiery before dyeing, provided 
the oil can be scoured out by a solution of 
good olive oil soap and sal soda. All goods 
that have the oily and black spots on them 



BLEACHING AND FINISHING 99 

should be sorted out and scoured in the solu- 
tion, then put with the regular batch. If 
vaseline is used on the cams of the machine 
the difficulty with oil spots will be overcome. 
The strength of the solution for removing oil 
spots must be determined by the amount of 
oil or grease to be removed, making the solu- 
tion stronger by the addition of sal soda. The 
temperature of the scouring liquor should not 
be above 120° F. Water that is too hot has 
a tendency to set the oil spots in the goods, 
instead of removing them. Cyrus. 



Determining Proportions of Wool and 
Cotton in a Fabric 

Please give directions for determining the 
proportions of wool and cotton in a mixed 
fabric. Also inform us what else we need in 
connection with your Simplex Yarn Tables to 
test yarns as to their respective sizes. 

Simplex (2136). 

The proportions of wool and cotton in a 
mixed fabric are determined by weighing a 
sample, boiling it for ten minutes in a 5 per 
cent, solution of caustic potash or soda, dry- 
ing, and then weighing the residue, which is 
cotton. The wool is entirely dissolved by the 
boiling solution and the cotton Is only slightly 
affected. If extreme accuracy is desired, 5 
per cent, should be added to the weight of 
the cotton residue and the result is the weight 



lOO KNIT GOODS DYEING 

of the cotton in the sample. The difference be- 
tween this weight and the total weight of the 
sample before boiling is the weight of the 
wool. Example: A sample of wool and cot- 
ton mixed goods weights 60 grains. After 
having been boiled for ten minutes in a 5 per 
cent, caustic solution and dried, the residue 
weighs 20 grains. Find the proportion of 
wool and cotton. 

20 grains + 5% = 21 grains cotton. 
60 — 21 = 39 grains of wool. 

21 -h 60 = 35% cotton. 
39 ^ 60 =r 65% wool. 

The Simplex tables indicate the count of 
any given size of yarn by the various systems 
of yarn numbering. For example: No. 20s 
worsted is equal to No. 13 1/3 cotton, No. 37 
1/3 linen, 7 run woolen, or No. 22 1/2 
metric. 

The table also gives the weight of different 
lengths of each size of yarn, for example: 

120 yards of No. 20s worsted weighs 75 
grains; 50 yards, 31.2 grains; 25 yards, 15.6 
grains; 12 1/2 yards, 7.8 grains; 6 1/4 yards, 
S.9 grains. The yards per pound are also 
given, a pound of No. 20 worsted measuring 
11,200 yards. The size of yarn can be deter- 
mined only by measuring and weighing. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Amount of Steam for Heating Water 38 

Analysis of Water 28 

Black Specks in Bleached Goods 66 

Bleached Goods Turning Yellow 60 

Bleachery for Ladies' and Children's Underwear 32 

Bleachery. "Handling Goods in 54 

Bleaching Cotton and Silk Mixtures 55 

Bleaching- Goods Made from Kamie Yarn 41 

Bleaching Hosiery, Methods of 52 

Bleaching Liquor, Preparing 26 

Bleaching Powder, Quantity 13 

Bleaching Silk Hosiery 31 

Bleaching Yarn 88, 96 

Bluisli Tint on Bleached Goods 53 

Boiling off Silk Knit Goods 37 

Brown Spots in Bleaching 63 

Calculating Yarn Sizes 100 

Cheap Method of Dyeing Cotton Goods 16 

Coal Tar for Marks to Stand Bleaching 60 

Comparative Fastness of Dyeing Wool and 

Cotton 79 

Cotton Yarn Softener ' 6i 

Cross-Dyeing Plated Hosiery 10 

Determining Proportions of Wool and Cotton m 

a Fabric 99 

Drying, Temperature for 11,48 

]3yeing Black on Cotton and Wool Hosiery and 

Knit Goods 15, 23 

Dyeing Hosiery 83 

Dyeing Mercerized Cotton to Stand Cross 

Dyeing 90 

Electrolysis 26, 54 

Extracting Chlorine 14 

Fast Dyes on ■\^■ool and Cotton Goods 80 

Filtering Water 29 

Finishing Meiino Hosiery 35 

Good Fast Black on Knit Goods 20 

Half-Silk Bleaching 55 

Handling Goods in Bleachery 54 

Heating Water, Amount of Steam 38 

Hosiery Drying 4i 

Hosiery Dyeing 57, 83 

Hosiery Stamping 93 



102 INDEX 

PAGE 

Kier Stains, Removing 9 

Loss of Weight in Dyeing and Bleaching 69 

Marking Knit Goods to Stand Bleaching 59 

Mercerized Goods, Dyeing 24, 90 

Merino Hosiery, Finishing 35 

Methods of Bleaching Hosiery 52 

Non-Shrinkable Process for Knit Goods 48 

Oil Spots 66, 98 

Oily Odor on Goods 12 

Oxidized Black on Hosiery 83 

Plated Hosiery, Cross Dyeing 10 

Preparing Yarn for Bleaching 96 

Purifying Water 31 

Quantity of Bleaching Powder Required 13 

Quantity of Water Required for Bleaching and 

Dyeing 81 

Radiation of Heat 40 

Ramie, Bleaching '41 

Recipe for Boiling Compound 28 

Removing Kier Stains 9 

Removing Oil Spots Before Dyeing and 

Bleaching 98 

Rinsing-off Goods 19. 21 

Rushing the Bleaching Process, Result of 62 

Scouring and Finishing Wool and Cotton Union 

Suits 3a 

Settling Tanks 15 

Shrinkage in Dyeing and Bleaching Yarns 69 

Silk and Cotton Mixtures, Bleaching of 55 

Silk Goods, Boiling off 37 

Silk-like Feel on Goods 51 

Soap for Knit Goods 12 

Softener 17, 37, 68, 85, 98 

Solution for Removing Stains 9 

Spots on Knit Goods 63, 66 

Stamping Hosiery 93 

Standing Kettle. Strength of 26 

Sulphur Blacks 12, 22, 24, 85 

Sulphur Smell on Goods After Bleaching 83 

Temperature for Drying 11, 48 

Tendering Yarn on Goods 11, 83, 87 

Tests for Wool and Cotton lOt) 

Uneven Bleaching 63 

Uneven Shades in Dyeing Hosiery 57 

Water for Bleaching 28 

Water Required for Bleachery and Dye House 81 

Weighting Knit Goods in Finishing 77 

Yarn Bleaching 88,96 

Yellow Marks in Bleaching and Finishing 32 

Yellow Tone on Goods 50, 60 



The Textile-Finishing Machinery Co. 

PROVIDENCE, R. I. 

Bleaching, Dyeing, Drying, Printing, and Finishing 
Machinery for Textile Fabrics. 




Bleaching Kier fitted with Rustlen Patent 
Circulator and Superheater. 



IviCrS KINDS FOR 



Knit Goods 

Pressure and open boil Kiers 

Pressure Kiers with entire top to open for boiling 

goods in bundles. Kiers with hydraulic lift 

for raw stock 

Dyeing and Drying Machinery for Cotton Warps 

Mercerizing MacMnery for Cotton Goods and Warps 



THE 

DIAMINE FAST 
COLORS 

are particularly recom- 
mended for Knit Goods 
on account of extreme 
Fastness to Washing and 
Perspiration and meet 
every requirement of 
the Underwear and 
Hosiery Mill. .*. .*. 



CA5SELLA COLOR CO/VIPANY 

NEW YORK 



Standard Blacks 

FOR 

Hosiery 

Zambesi Black V 

(Diazotized and developed) 

Sulphur Black FAQ Extra Strong 

They are acknowledged by the trade the 
most perfect blacks for hosiery. 

Aniline Colors 

of any description for fancy shades on cotton, 
mercerized cotton and silk hosiery. 

Sample dyeings with proper instructions 
will be gladly furnished on request. 



BERLIN ANILINE WORKS 

213-215 Water Street 
NEW YORK 

BOSTON, Mass. PHILADELPHIA, Pa. CHICAGO, 111. 

CHARLOTTE, N. C. MONTREAL, Canada 



NOV 1 1313 

Farbwerke = Hoechst Co. 



FORMERLY 

H. A. METZ & CO. 



Aniline Colors 

Alizarine Colors 

Helindone Colors 
Indigo /V\ L B 

Textile Chemicals 



122 Hudson Street New York, N. Y. 

140 Oliver Street Boston, Mass. 

104 Chestnut Street l^hiladelphia. Pa. 

22 South Main Street I'rovidence, R. I, 

317 North Clark Street Chicago, 111. 

210 South Tryon Street Charlotte, N. C. 

1418 Empire Building Atlanta, Ga. 

20 and 22 Naioma Street San Francisco, Cal. 

45 Alexander Street Montreal, Canada 

28 Wellington Street Toronto, Canada 



SMITH, DRUM & CO. 

''Builders of the Best'* 

Labor Saving machinery 

for 

Dyeing, Singeing, and Finishing 

Hosiery 

Mercerizing Machines f«r 
Skein and Warps 




SMITH, DRUM & CO. 

.^u lo^^ «;t* PHILADELPHIA, PA. 

Coral and Cumberland Sts. 

Southern Agent 
H. Q. MAYER, 

Realty Buildin?:. Charlotte, N. C. 



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